Both Sides of the Mask
by goldie-again
Summary: Over a year after the famous disaster, the Opera House has been repaired and is reopening. Raoul's cousin Amelia goes to study ballet and live in the dormitories without any fears or any hesitation... after all, the Phantom is gone forever... or is he?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been one year since the disaster at the Opera Populair. News of its reconstruction had been announced one short month after the events occurred. My name is Amelia De Chagney; my cousin is Raoul De Chagney, the opera's vicompt. Growing up Raoul was my best friend, my only friend, like my brother. When I had heard what happened to him, my heart truly stopped. I was so afraid that he had been killed, that he had been slaughtered by… The opera ghost. That must sound so foolish, a ghost, but it's true. Raoul told me all about him. But if there was one person who was even more affected by it then Raoul, it was his wife Christine. I met Christine the day he got back from Paris. His carriage pulled up and I ran out the front door and into his arms. The bright smile that spread across his face when he saw me was the greatest thing I'd seen since he left. He hugged me tight and laughed that same warm laugh he always had.

"Amelia! Oh my, you're more beautiful every time I see you." He smiled at me. I smiled back and hugged him.

"I missed you so much!" I said. "I was miserable without you!"

Christine slowly stepped from the carriage. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her long brown hair fell down her shoulders in long waves and curls. She wore a yellow and white dress. I let go of Raoul and looked at her. He walked over to her and took her by the hand and led her over to me.

"Amelia, this is my wife Christine Daae." He said smiling. I smiled lightly, not feeling entirely comfortable with the entire situation. He looked at Christine.

"Christine, this is my little cousin Amelia." I rolled my eyes.

"I am not your little cousin. I'm nineteen years old, not ten."

"Oh, but you'll always be my little cousin." He said, laughing. He kissed me on the forehead and then led Christine into the house.

"Miss Daae," I said, as they walked away from me. She turned to face me. "Welcome." She opened her mouth slightly, as if to say something, but she didn't. She slowly turned back to Raoul and kept walking. It wasn't so much that she was unfriendly, but more that she was so uncomfortable every time she was around me. You could tell she was trying to be polite, but at the same time she didn't want to be here in the first place. I could tell she cared for Raoul, that she loved him, but there always seem to be hesitancy whenever she showed him any affection at all. I felt that it must have been a case of getting used to the De Chagney estate; after all, she did come from a less than fortunate family. But in the end she just seemed completely insecure with all of her surroundings. I followed the two of them into the house and joined them for tea. My mother, father, uncle, and Raoul's brother James joined us too. James was older than Raoul by eight years and already married. He warmly welcomed Christine as he always did with new company. We all sat in the tearoom as the maids served us.

"So Amelia how is your dancing coming?"

"Fine." I answered.

I had been dancing ballet since I was five and had always dreamed of going to study at the opera Populair. But ever since the rumors of the opera ghost my thoughts had changed a bit. I still wanted to go, but just the thought of that monstrous man frightened me.

"You know, Christine danced at the opera house for years, she was a chorus girl." Christine blushed a little bit and smiled lightly.

"Really?" I asked, trying my best to get her into the conversation. She nodded and cleared her throat.

"I was for quite a while. Madame Giry trained me."

"Wow…" I said. Madame Giry I had heard was an amazing ballerina, or at least she had been when she was a young girl. Raoul smiled at me. He looked to Christine and she smiled back.

"Should we tell her?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Yes."

"Tell me what?" I asked curiously.

"Tomorrow, you are going to be leaving this house for one year to stay in the dormitories at the Opera Populair with Madame Giry and her daughter meg." The moment Raoul spoke those words my heart stopped.

"W- What?"

He smiled and nodded, seeming extremely pleased with himself. My mother and father gasped.

"Oh Raoul…" my mother said in disbelief. I jumped from the couch and threw my arms around him.

"Oh Raoul! Thank you so much!" I said. He laughed and hugged me back. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My dreams were all coming true within a matter of seconds and Raoul hadn't even been home ten minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Christine shared my room with me that night. I sat in front of my mirror brushing my hair and she wrote in her diary. At the age of twenty one it seemed a bit childish to have a diary but she hadn't spoken to me since that afternoon.

"What are you writing?" I asked. She turned around to me and smiled.

"Oh, nothing important."

"Is it a diary?"

"No, not at all… well, kind of maybe, yes… to tell you the truth I'm not really sure myself."

"I never had a diary." I said. She smiled and turned back to her diary to continue to write.

"When did you and Raoul meet?" I asked, determined to keep her talking.

"We met when we were very young. Whenever he'd come to Sweden with his parents he would always come and play with me."

"Are you the one he called Little Lotte?" she smiled brightly and nodded.

"Yes." I smiled back and then turned around to continue to brush my hair. I pulled it up with a ribbon and then got up. I went over to my bed and slid betwe"I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow." Christine sighed.

"Yes."

"But it does make me nervous thinking about the whole Opera Ghost story." I had immediately regretted saying that afterward. Why couldn't I ever keep my big mouth shut? She stopped writing and slowly sat her pencil down.

"Oh Christine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…."

"No, it's okay. Don't give it another thought." I swallowed hard and then turned away onto my side.

The next morning I awoke as early as possible. I kissed my mother and father good bye and gave Raoul another strong hug.

"I'll come to see you as soon as I can, I swear on it." he said. I smiled and kissed his cheek as a boarded the carriage. It then began to move away and took me all of the way to the train station. The train ride was long and tiring. I slept most of the way until they announced that we would be stopping soon. As soon as I stepped off of the train I heard a voice call out my name.

"Amelia?" I turned to see a girl standing over by the station. She was tall, blonde and very beautiful. She was wearing a light blue dress. I walked over to her and smiled.

"You must be Meg." I said. She smiled and nodded.

"I could tell it was you the moment you stepped off of the train, you look just like Raoul, and I dare say you could be his sister rather than his cousin. I smiled. People had been telling Raoul and me that since we were young children.

"Yes, it's a curse. People have always told us that we looked alike."

"Oh. It's uncanny." She said. Then she held out her hands and took my bags. She handed them to a man next to us and he led us out to the carriage. We rode the carriage all of the way to the opera house. It was the most beautiful building I had ever seen, absolutely gorgeous. You could tell there were still some areas under repair but it didn't even come close to taking away from its beauty. As we walked through the doors of the opera house I immediately felt at home, as if I belonged there.

"Follow me." Meg said, as we made our way to the stage doors. The auditorium was absolutely amazing. The stage was the biggest I had ever seen and the ceiling was painted to look like the sky with clouds and angels. The seats we're all red with gold trim and gold statues decorated throughout the entire room. On stage, there was a large group ballerinas practicing. There was an older woman there instructing them. She was wearing a long black dress and her hair was put up in a long braid.

"Mother!" Meg called to her. She turned around and smiled at her.

"Keep stretching girls." She said, and then walked down the steps from the stage towards me and Meg.

"This is Amelia mother, Raoul's cousin."

"My goodness, I wasn't expecting you this early. It's very nice to meet you Amelia." I nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Madame."

"You look just like your cousin, the resemblance is remarkable."

"I said the same thing mother, it's really amazing."

"Well Megan, why don't you take Amelia up to you're room, she'll share your dormitory."

"Yes mother." Megan said. She motioned for me to follow her and we left the auditorium. Meg led me up the large spiral staircase to a long hallway. She unlocked one of the doors on the right wall and led me in. "This is my room, you'll be staying here."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm going to go downstairs, we have dress rehearsal for tomorrows show in half an hour so I need to go and get ready. You can stay here and get settled in."

"Okay."

"I'll see you later tonight then." She waved at me and then walked out the door, closing it behind her. I sat on my bed and took in a deep breath. I was finally at the Opera Populair, yet it hadn't fully sunk in yet. It was even better then I had ever dreamed it would be and I hadn't even experienced anything yet. I started undoing the front of my dress and pulled it off. I undid my corset and dropped it to the floor then stood in front of the mirror. I stared at my legs, a number of large bruises on them from the week before when my horse Penelope had bucked me off. It wasn't her fault entirely; I shouldn't have kicked her as hard as I had. The room suddenly felt very cold, so I walked over to my suitcase and pulled out a long black skirt and the black top that went with it. It felt so much better without the corset on, the wretched thing did nothing but cut off my air supply. I left the room and went back downstairs to the auditorium where they were starting the dress rehearsal for the upcoming show. I went backstage to watch so that I wouldn't be seen or distracting. Everything was so gracefully done and perfect, that might as well have been opening night. Meg was an amazing dancer, absolutely flawless in every one of her movements. Suddenly, I heard I movement behind me and turned around to see a man standing close behind me. He was young, but older then me, maybe around twenty five. He looked dirty and had long brown hair with a hat pulled over it. He looked like he needed a shave. He gave me a cocky smile.

"Well hello, hello, hello… I don't think I've ever seen you here before. You must be the new one, the vicompt's cousin, right?"

"Y-Yes…" I said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. He took another step closer to me and there was no longer any space between us.

"Terrific to meet you miss, you must be no nervous though, new city and all." "No, I'm fine, thank you very much."

"You sure about that miss?"

"Yes." I said sharply.

"Well, if you need anything just let me know, okay love?" he said. "Anything…"

I felt his hand go down my back over my bottom and lower. I froze up immediately, not able to push him away. Then suddenly, I saw a hand strike his face from the side. Madame Giry took me by the arm and pulled me away. We walked back down the steps.

"Child, never go backstage alone."

"I-I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't apologize Amelia; just don't let it happen again. The men who work here think with the hormones that run them, it's amazing we ever get any work done here." She smiled at me and then turned back to assist with the ballet. I took in a deep breath. One hour here and I'd already managed to get sexually harassed, and it was my fault, I couldn't blame anyone else. I was so humiliated. I left the auditorium in a hurry, still embarrassed, not knowing who saw it happen. I decided to explore a little. I had nothing else to do; my lessons weren't to start until the following week. I searched through out the dressing rooms, which were mostly very small. I went out into the main lobby to find two older men standing on the steps in deep conversation.

"When is the Vicompt's cousin coming to stay here?"

"She was picked up this morning by Meg Giry. She's supposed to be here already."

I walked don the steps to them and they looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Bon jour monsieur." I said and curtsied to them.

"Ah, you must be Amelia."

"Yes."

"Well, my dear, it's a pleasure to have you here with us. Raoul has said you are quite the talent."

I smiled at that. Raoul was always flattering me, even when I wasn't around to here it.

"I don't know about that, Raoul's sweeter then he is judgmental."

The two of them laughed, as if they knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Have you settled into your dormitory yet?"

"Yes, I have, thank you."

"Good, we're lucky you know, that's was one of the only areas that didn't catch fire in the disaster last year."

"Really?"

"Andre, let's not discuss this. I'm sorry my dear, he seems to forget that the last thing we want to discuss is the phantom."

"The phantom?"

"Or the opera ghost, what ever one is used to."

"What ever happened to him?"

"Oh, he was never found, most suspect that he died in the fire. This is why no one will go below to where his lair once was."

"Why?"

"There's another one of those silly rumors going around that it's haunted. People just can't seem to let go of the fairy tale."

"But it wasn't a fairy tale, he really did exist."

"Sadly, yes. But he's gone now and that's the important thing."

"Well Madame, we really must be going now."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you both." I said with a smile. They lifted their hats to me and then walked down the stairs and out of the door. I sighed and then went back into the auditorium, curious to see if the dress rehearsal was finished yet. They were still rehearsing the gala portion of it. Carlotta Giudicelli was front and center on the stage singing 'Il Muto.' Not her part, but the introduction as a warm up. She had an enormously strong voice and was very talented, but over sang her notes and pretty much everything else.

"They say that this youth has set my ladies heart aflame, His lordship sure will die of shock, His lordship is a laughing stock, If he suspect her, god protect her, Shame, shame, shame! This faithless lady's bound for Hades… Shame, shame, shame!"

Il Muto was always my favorite opera. The music was lively and the plot was fun and comedic. Last year when they attempted to perform this show was said to be what led up to the tragedy. Carlotta lost her voice in the middle of it and was replaced by Christine, and a man named Joseph Bouquet was hung from above the stage in the middle of the ballet performance. Thinking about that, I put a hand on my throat out of instinct. Apparently, his death wasn't much of a loss but it still was enough of an excuse to call the police to the next opera performance. As I watched Carlotta and the rest of the cast leave the stage I heard a noise from above. I looked up above towards the ceiling and saw a dark figure standing in box five. They were staring down at me but I wasn't able to make out who they were, whether it was a man or a woman, but whoever it was, he was tall and had extremely broad shoulders, far to large to be a woman. I squinted my eyes, trying to see better but the turned around quickly and walked out the back. As I watched the box I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Meg standing behind me.

"What are you looking at?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I'm not sure," I said. "Did you see anyone up there?"

"Up where?"

"In box five."

A look of worry came over Meg's face and she looked up at the box. She swallowed hard.

"I'm sure it was just one of the workers doing some repairs. That box did catch fire last year during the chandelier crash."

I stared at her suspiciously. She looked as if she knew something she wasn't telling me, like she was hiding something. I sighed and ignored it.

"Are you coming to supper with me and mother?"

"Yes, thank you."

We walked out of the auditorium and down the stairs to the banquet hall. There was a large table with many people seated around it. There were many food scattered through out it. Meg and I took our seats next to Madame Giry. Monsieur Firmin stood up with his Champaign glass and tapped the side of it with a fork.

"Attention all," he said. "Please may I have your attention?"

Everyone immediately stopped their conversations and turned their attention to Firmin.

"Thank you. I would just like to congratulate all of you on our great triumph of the reconstruction of the Opera house."

Everyone started clapping in agreement; Meg looked at me with a large smile.

"I would also like to make a toast to our wonderful cast that stayed with us even after last year's disaster and wish you all the best of luck in tomorrow nights performance."

Everyone raised their glasses and made a toast. I took a sip of the Champaign and crinkled my nose. It was a drink that represented elegance, poise and respect but it had a fowl and unwelcoming taste. I swallowed what I had sampled and immediately sat the glass back down. I felt Meg nudge me with her elbow.

"If you keep you're tongue further down against your teeth it makes it harder to taste It." she whispered with a smile. I smiled back and laughed. I took another drink with Meg's instructions and found that she was right. The drink's vile taste became much more tolerable with the tip of my tongue hidden against the back of my teeth. After I finished my dinner I excused my self from the meal. I went back to the auditorium and onto the stage. The view from the stage was incredible but intimidating. Just knowing that I was to be performing on it within one week was overwhelming. I found that I couldn't help myself and slowly started to dance. I slowly spun around with my arms out to the side. Step by step I guided myself across the stage and then back again. I began to spin slowly and then fast. Faster and faster I went until I felt like I would float into the air. I stopped when I heard footsteps behind me. I looked behind me towards the backstage. There was no one there.

"H-Hello?" I said. I slowly and hesitantly walked closer to the backstage area. I walked behind the curtain and felt someone grab my arm. They pulled me aside and pinned me to the wall. I realized that it was the same man from earlier that day.

"Nice to see you again love." He said. I struggled to free myself from his grasp and was unsuccessful.

"Let me go!" I yelled. He slapped me across the face and I fell to the floor. He crawled on top of me and wrapped one hand around my throat. I clawed at his hand trying to release it but he just tightened his grip. I felt his hand run up my leg under my skirt when I realized that I couldn't breathe at all. Darkness began to close in around me when I suddenly saw him fly off of me and crash against the wall. I reached for my neck and then gasped for breath. I heard him yell and then gag. As I heard his legs kicking against the wall, the darkness became all I could see and I fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I awoke hours later in a room I had never seen before. It looked more like a cave. I looked down and noticed that I was in a new change of clothes, a white shirt and brown trousers. The bed I was lying on was beautiful, with a red velvet comforter. It was black and metal and looked like a bird with its wings rapped around the mattress. I started to panic and got up slowly. I walked out of the door and out into the open lair. My jaw dropped when I saw a lake down below me. I glanced to the right to see the biggest pipe organ I had ever seen. It was beautiful, black and gold with sheets of music scattered across it. I walked past it to see a long table with various sculptures, sketches and other things. As I walked along it I found a glass heart sitting on a metal tray. On top of the heart was a beautiful diamond ring. There was a white sapphire in the middle surrounded by diamonds. I picked it up and held it in my hand, instantly recognizing it. This was my aunt's ring, Raoul's mother's ring. His father had given it to him after his mother died and told him to give it to the woman he loved. I tightened my grip around it and swallowed hard. I looked around once more to the point where it finally sunk in.

"This isn't happening." I said. That's when I saw the gate to the lake rising. I ducked down behind the table, forgetting I still had the ring in my hand. I heard something being pulled onto the shore of the lake, then footsteps leading up to the table. A black cloak was hung on the hook on the wall but I couldn't tell who did it. That's when I crawled around the corner of the table, trying to escape, but instead go a view of my keeper's legs. I looked up slowly to see a tall man. He was in a black suit, his long hair slicked back to the back of his collar, and a white mask covered the side of his face. He kneeled down to me, looked me in the eyes, and held out his hand.

"I don't appreciate thieves." He said.

That was when I remember I hadn't put the ring back. I looked down at my hand, still closed into a fist, and released my grip on the ring. I dropped it into his hand and he put it back in its place. He walked back over to the organ and sat at the bench. I stood up and froze in my place. This was real, it was all real, and this was the man that tried to kill Raoul. He glanced over at me.

"Are you planning on sitting there for the rest of the night?"

"N-N-No…" I said. I was shaking and breathing shallowly.

He turned around with his back to me.

"You've been through quite an ordeal, you should get more rest."

"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?"

"My dear, I believe you're asking questions you already know the answer to."

"Why don't you just let me go back?"

"And jeopardize my hide away? I am not as foolish as people make me out to be."

"Please?" I pleaded with him, almost in tears. He didn't reply. I looked back at the gate and noticed that it was still open. I slowly walked down to the shore of the lake and then, without hesitation, ran into the water and towards the gate. Just when I thought I was going to be free, the gate dropped down just as I was going to make my escape. I gripped the gate and shook it. I spun around to find him standing on the other end of the lair next to a lever, I was trapped. He took off his jacket and vest and left his white shirt. He walked into the water and came towards me. He grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. I pounded at his back and screamed but it didn't even faze him.

"Put me down! Put me down now! Damn you!"

He didn't pay any attention to my pleas, but instead grabbed a rope from the table and sat me down against the wall. He tied my hands together and then my ankles. I had tears running down my face like crazy and my cheeks were bright red.

"Why won't you just let me go?" I asked him desperately. "I swear to god I won't tell anyone about you."

"God?" he chuckled. "God you say? You expect me to put my trust in god? Do I look like someone he has blessed?"

I turned away from him and closed my eyes. I started to cry, silently but noticeably. He sighed in frustration.

"Child, unless your tears can free you from the binds of those ropes then I see no reason for you to being crying."

"I'm no more of a child then you are." I said coldly. "I'm nineteen years old, I'm an adult."

"Then why do you fear me?"

"Because..."

"Because what? Because I am a monster? Poor child, only children are afraid of monsters."

I stopped my crying and looked at him. That was when I realized that he was right, I was acting childish. I was doing nothing to help my case at all. Crying on the cold stone floor wasn't going to free myself from his lair. After a few hours, I began saw away at the robes with a stone that was projecting from the wall I sat against. The ropes rubbed against my wrists as I did this, turned them red and broke the skin. I continued to saw away at them, being as quiet as I could so he wouldn't hear me as he worked on his score. My hand slipped and cut across the stone. I cried out in pain as I looked down at the gash which came up my forearm. Fresh blood trickled down my arm and onto the floor. My hands were still tied together as I sat against the wall, crying, bleeding, my eyes clenched closed. When I opened them, he was kneeled down beside me with a knife in one hand. I cried out and backed away from him. He grabbed hold of my ankle to stop me and came down with the knife to my wrist. He cut the ropes off my wrists cut the ropes off my ankles and helped me to my feet. I followed him over to sit on his organ bench. He left for a moment and came back from another room carrying a small brass bottler and a piece of cloth in his hands. He kneeled down beside the bench and reached for my arm. I flinched a bit, and he stopped.

"Just let me see your arm." He said and held out his hand.

I hesitantly did as he instructed and placed my arm in his hand. He took the bottle and poured its contents onto my cut. I cried out in alarm as an intense burning ran up and down my skin, a stinging feeling buzzing up the entire length of my arm. He leaned into my arm and gently blew onto the cut. The pain went away and I took a breath. He stopped blowing and took the strip of cloth in his hands. He wrapped it around my arm multiple times and then tied it off. He gently took my arm in his hands and sat it back onto my lap and stood up. I stared up at him in awe. Never would I have expected him to do that, the second I cut myself I had expected him to just let me sit there and bleed on the floor. He held out his hand and I slowly put mine into his. I got to my feet and he led me over to a red velvet sofa. I sat down slowly and he went back to sit on his bench. He went back to work instantly as if nothing had even happened. Everything that happened within those last fifteen minutes was a complete shock to me. He blew on my cut to stop the burning, as a father would do for his infant child. I laid down on the couch and closed by eyes, not knowing what would happen next. I awoke on the couch, not knowing how long I had been asleep for. I turned and looked at him to find him still working on his score. Never had I seen someone so dedicated to their work. He never even played a note, it was as if he new every note by heart and new exactly how it would sound. I cleared my throat and leaned back on the couch.

"Monsieur?" I asked him.

"Yes?" he asked, without ever turning to look at me.

"How long was I asleep?"

"All night."

"I've been here all night?"

"Yes."

I sighed and sat back against the couch.

"What is your name?" I asked him without thinking.

He stopped what he was doing immediately and seemed to completely freeze. He slowly turned to look at me.

"Excuse me?"

"Your name," I continued. "What is it?"

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and shook his head.

"That, I intend to take with me to the grave." he said, looking back down at his work.

"We haven't been properly introduced." I said.

"What's the point in that?" he asked.

"Well, I'm obviously going to be here for quite some time. I think its best that I know the man that I'm living with." I said, jokingly. He didn't laugh, nor did he show any other sign of amusement. My smile vanished.

"My name is the name my mother gave me the day I was born, therefore I do not intend on ever using it."

"Please monsieur, I just want to know your name. I doubt it will cause some great controversy. I would prefer not to have to call you 'phantom', for it sounds a bit childish to me."

"Why are you even speaking at all?"

"Because... because you're not at all like they described you."

He looked at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just... you seem to have a softer side, a poetic side. That's not the way they described you, that's all."

He seemed to be either upset or moved by what I said because it almost looked as if he would cry. But then he looked back down at his work. I sighed and turned my back to him.

"Erik..." I heard him say. I turned to face him.

"What?"

"My... my name is Erik."

I smiled lightly.

"I always liked that name." I said to him with a light smile. "Thank you for saving me last night Erik."

He paused for a moment and looked at me. I could tell that by using his name I had hit some kind of emotional barrier, it was a wall that must me knocked down.

"What is your name?" he asked in return.

"Amelia."

"Is there a last name or am I to assume you were born without one?"

I hesitated. I knew that if he knew my last name that I would be done for. If he knew I was related to Raoul then he would surely kill me. But he told me his name, and it seemed like that took a lot of his strength to do.

"Amelia… De Chagney…" I finally said.

He paused for a moment and looked at me in a look I couldn't explain. It looked like a combination of fear, anger, and hurt all in one. He stood up from his bench and walked into the other room. I sat there alone in the lair, staring ahead. To my surprise, the only emotion I felt at that moment was sympathy, and not for myself. Not for Raoul, Christine, or anyone one else, but for poor, lonely Erik.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Erik?" I asked, entering the room he had left to. I had contemplated going after him for at least fifteen minutes before finally deciding to. I walked through the passage into the dimly lit room. I found him sitting on a large bed, staring into a mirror. He had tears streaming down his face but did not seem to be crying. He did not move nor make and sounds, only the tears came falling.

"Erik?" I said again.

"It's as if you've all come to haunt me, eternally haunt me till death."

"I'm sorry."

"Well of course you are. You're sorry for upsetting the monster in the deep dark cave. You're only saying that you're sorry so I'll bring you back up in light out of this darkness that I've lived in my whole life."

"It's not my fault Erik; I never did anything to you."

"That wretched cousin of yours was the monster…" he said. I gasped. "Not on the outside of course, he was pleasing with every physical feature he had, but not on the inside where his soul rotted and his black heart beat. I was foolish to ever expect her to stay with me, to believe she would ever care for me or look upon me in love."

"Raoul loved her too…"

"Raoul loved her beauty, he loved her voice! He loved the fact that those to features of her alone would please the people around him even more then it had already!"

"Why are you acting as if the world had come crashing down at your feet?"

"Because it has! Christine didn't love me; my own mother was revolted by me! I've been stuck down here in hell for years but it seems like an eternity."

I stared at him with sad eyes.

"You-you still love her… don't you?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"No, but just thinking about how stupid I was sickens me. Just thinking about how I worshiped her only to have her spit in my face makes me want to end my wretched life right now."

"No Erik, please no."

"Why should you get an opinion? You've known me for a mere two days, and you're already acting as if you need to be my rescuer. Have you ever tried to rescue a monster Amelia? We're incredibly hard to stand."

"You're not a monster."

"How would you know?"

"Because monsters can't write beautiful music, they can't love a woman with all of their heart," I paused for a moment and took in a breath. "And they can't win me over as easily as you have…"

He stared at me in confusion. I walked over to the bed where he was sitting and I sat beside him. I looked deep into his eyes, which were a beautiful dark green color. They weren't fierce or threatening like you would expect, but they were soft and filled with passion.

"I've never trusted anyone with my heart, no man has ever loved me and I have never loved a man. But if there is one thing I've learned, it's not to judge someone by their physical appearance, but by the size of their heart."

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, standing up. "You've never even seen me…"

I'm not sure what happened at that moment, not sure what went through my mind, but I stood and ripped his mask off of his face. He cried out in alarm and covered his face with his hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked me in alarm.

He sunk to the bed and sat on it with his head in his hands. I sat beside him.

"Please don't Erik…" I said. I held his face in my hands and pushed aside one to reveal what he had to hide. The entire right side of his face was practically gone. Deep red scars ran down his cheek and forehead, his nose was misshapen and his eye seemed to be pulled down further then his other one. I moved my hand across his scars and kissed his forehead, then without thinking pressed my lips to his. I kissed him long and deep, never wanting to let go of him. When I pulled back to look in his eyes he had tears in them. He looked at me as if I had taken away his deformity rather than just looked past it. I kissed him again and felt myself begin to tear up as well. He kissed me back this time, his hands touching my face. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him closer to me. I kissed his forehead and then trailed kisses all along the scarred side of his face. I looked back at him; he still had tears in his eyes. He shut them and opened them again, leaving tears scattered across his long eyelashes. I pulled open his shirt and pulled it down his shoulders and all of the way off. He had naturally tan skin and broad shoulders. He was muscular and strong, absolutely perfect. I ran my hands down his chest to his abdomen and leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. He pulled my shirt up and over my head and dropped it beside his. I covered myself with my arms, feeling self conscious. He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed me.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered in my ear as he took me in his arms. I lightly smiled to myself and slowly dropped my arms. I wrapped them around this neck and held him close to me.

"So are you." I told him, he looked at me and I smiled at him lightly. As we removed the rest of each other's clothing, I felt my heart beating inside of me. I could hear it beating so loudly it seemed like it was inside my head. I lay back on the bed and pulled him on top of me. He looked down into my eyes.

"I-I've never…" I put a finger to his lips.

"Neither have I Erik." I said, putting my hand on his cheek. He kissed the inside of my hand and then leaned in to kiss my lips. I took in a deep breath and let him inside of me. We both gasped and held each other tighter. After a moment, once we were used to the situation, he began to move inside of me in a steady rhythm. I wrapped my legs around his waist and hugged him tight. I released a moan as he placed a kiss in the middle of my chest. He looked into my eyes and continued to push himself further inside of me. It all seemed to come naturally to us. We had no idea what we were doing and yet we knew exactly what to do. It made no sense to me, this was the man who tried to kill my cousin and best friend, steal his wife, and burned down almost half of the opera house and yet I wanted nothing more then to stay there with him forever, in his arms. Afterwards, I lay in his arms beneath the thick sheets of the bed. I fell asleep, feeling the most comfortable I had ever felt. He held me tight as I slept, my head rested against his chest. When I woke up later, I was alone. I sat up, pulling the sheets up to cover my chest.

"Erik?" I asked. I stood up and walked out of the room, taking the sheets with me. I found him sitting at his bench, wearing his pants and a white shirt only. His hair was long and hung naturally over his face a bit. I smiled to myself and then went back into the room. I sat down on the bed and sighed. Erik turned around the corner into the room. I lightly smiled at him. He walked over to me and sat next to me on the bed. He looked at me with eyes filled with such love and yet such sadness.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"I…I'm just waiting for the moment that I wake up and find out that this is all a dream. I'm dreading the moment I find out that I never actually held you in my arms."

"It's not a dream Erik," I said, touching his cheek. "I'm here."

I leaned in and kissed him, deeply and passionately. I didn't care about his face; he was too beautiful in every other way for it to have any affect on me. We fell back onto the bed and he slowly pulled the sheets off of me. He trailed soft kisses all the way down my neck, torso, and then back up. He looked into my eyes and held my gaze.

"I……. I love you." He said.

"I love you too," I said, smiling. He kissed me on the forehead.

"But this won't work…"

I looked at him in shock and sat up. He looked down at his lap and let the tears roll off of his cheeks.

"Don't cry…" I said, and then felt my own eyes well up. I felt hot tears stream down my face. He was right, it would never work out. With everything that had happened in his past, with Raoul, none of it would work. But I already knew that I couldn't live without this man. It wasn't love at first site, he wasn't my soul mate; it was just love. I knew it was and I wasn't going to let it slip away. He looked at me and saw me sobbing. He put a hand to my face and turned my head toward him. I looked deep into his eyes and saw that he had stopped crying. He looked worried though, scared almost.

"No, you don't cry. You're so strong Amelia, so much stronger than me. Please don't cry… don't let me sadden you like this."

I looked at him as if he must be joking. Was he telling me to give him up? I couldn't ever! Never could I give up someone like Erik, there was no one else like him in the world. I had never been any further away from my home then I was then but I still knew I would never find anyone that I loved as much as Erik.

"I'll make it work." I said to him.

"Amelia…"

"No Erik, I will! I can, I swear! I won't leave you Erik, never!" I began to cry again. I cradled my head in my hands and felt him take me in his arms. He held me tight and I snuggled into his chest. "Please don't make me give you up Erik, I'll die if you do, I swear I will."

"Shhhhhh…" he ran his hand up and down my back slowly. The feeling of him holding me was enough to make my crying come to a slow stop.

"Erik…"

"Yes?"

"Don't let go of me."

"Never."

I kissed him and he kissed me back.

"Love me." I said, under my breath. I was desperate for him, his touch, everything about him.

He picked me up and carried me off of the floor to the bed. He took off his shirt and pants and lay on top of me. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, his face gently encircled by the soft candle light. He held my hands in his, on each side of my head. His fingers laced with mine. If possible, it was even more amazing than the first time. He went slowly at first, letting me get used to it, then sped up. By the time he stopped, both our bodies glistened with a thin sheen of sweat, the two of us gasping for breath. He took my hand and lifted me up, as he rolled into a sitting position, taking me with him. I sat on his lap facing him, one leg on each side of his body. I took his face in my hands and kissed him, even though we were both still trying to catch our breath. I touched my forehead to his and we both closed our eyes. We stayed like that, holding each other in one another's arms, for longer then I can remember.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I had been there for over three days. Erik and I made love excessively, as if it was the only thing we knew how to do. It wasn't so much a case of physical pleasure more then a case of undeniable love. Most of it only resulted in us holding each other very closely. I was so happy to have given myself up to him. There was no other man on earth I could have done that with. Erik was mine; he was my only love and my only concern. On the third morning, I awoke to the sound of someone calling Erik's name.

"Erik?" someone called out. "Erik?"

Erik and I had been asleep in bed. He shot up with a look of worry on his face. He quickly put on his trousers and shirt and ran out into the lair, motioning for me to stay there. I sat in the bed, not making any sounds. I got up and slowly walked to the exit of the room, peeking out to see who was there. I gasped when I saw Madame Giry. Erik helped her out of the boat. She smiled at him.

"Erik," she said curiously. "You aren't wearing your mask."

A look of alarm spread across his face and he covered his face with his hand.

"I-I'm so sorry." He said. She shook her head and moved his hand from his face.

"No, I don't mind. I'm actually quite happy to see you without that wretched thing on, it must feel much better."

Her smile vanished.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked.

"Erik," she said, taking his hands. "The Vicompt's cousin has come to study ballet here, he sent her here to train with me and—"

"No, I know already."

"You do?"

"Yes, I've known about Amelia for days."

"Oh, well that's not what the problem is. She's missing; she's been missing for days. We haven't informed Raoul yet but when he finds out we'll be done for."

Erik frowned and sighed.

"I….. I know where she is."

A looked of alarm came over Madame Giry's face, she almost looked frightened.

"W-what do you mean? Where is she?"

Erik looked toward the door and motioned for me to come forward. I hesitated at first, but then came out. I was embarrassed, standing there in one of Erik's shirts. The cool air in the lair went up my bear legs and I shivered a bit. Madame Giry's face went white. She looked at Erik, then to me, and then back to Erik.

"What's going on Erik?"

"I… I'm in love with her." He said, shaking his head.

She dropped her jaw and looked at him with wide eyes. Erik turned to look at me and smiled.

"This is nothing like it was with Christine." He said quietly.

Madame Giry closed her mouth slowly and looked at me with fierce eyes. Suddenly, she walked up to me, grabbed me by the arm and took me down to the lake. She pushed me towards the boat.

"Get in.' she said firmly. I quickly moved over to Erik into his arms. He held me tight, as if he refused to let me go. Madame Giry began to tear up; the tears began to stream down her face.

"Erik, you can't keep her here!" she said.

Erik looked at her in awe, but then slowly released me. I still held on to him. He pushed me out a little and looked me in the eyes.

"Goodbye," he said sadly. "Until tonight."

I hesitated but then let him go. I got into the boat and let Madame row the boat away. I looked back at him as he watched the boat drift away; I blew him a kiss and mouthed the words 'I love you.'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"How could you?" she shouted at me. "How could you? Have you no heart?"

"Madame, I—"

"No! Don't speak! Do you have any idea what you have done? You've killed him! He'll die when he realizes you can't be together, it will kill him!" "But I love him!"

"You can't do this! It won't work! He tried to kill you're cousin and kidnap his wife! Has any of this gone through your mind?"

"I don't care! I don't care one bit about what Raoul thinks!"

"Stop being so selfish! You may not care now, but when Raoul has Erik staring down the barrel of a pistol you just might!"

I gasped at the words that slipped from her mouth. How could she say such a thing? She was right… if Raoul or anyone else ever found out they would kill him and it would be my fault. They would show no mercy and there would be nothing I could do. I sat down on the bed next to me and felt tears stream down my face.

"No." I said to myself. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Madame Giry sat next to me and put her hand on my back. She hushed me and sighed.

"I wish I would have been more prepared for this." She said.

I looked up at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"W-well… I never thought anyone would ever really fall in love with Erik. We live in such a superficial world…"

"But I have Madame; I have to be with him. I'll die if I can't."

She sighed and nodded as she ran her hand up and down my back.

"Okay," she said. "I'll help you."

I looked up at her slowly, lifting my head from my hands. I wiped the tears from my eyes and swallowed hard.

"You will? Really?" I asked, still not quite believing what I was hearing. She nodded. I smiled at her and threw my arms around her in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

That night, Madame Giry told Firmin and Andre that I would be staying with a friend that lived nearby for about a week. When they asked why, I told them that I had to catch up with my 'friend' because I hadn't seen her in quite sometime. They believed the whole thing. Madame Giry took me to one of the dressing rooms later that night. She went over to the large full length mirror and took a hold of its side. She pulled it over until it opened an opening in the wall, a door.

"Erik?" she said. "Erik?"

That's when I saw Erik walk out from behind the mirror. He looked so amazing. His hair was combed back nicely out of his face and he wore his normal black trousers, a long sleeved red dress shirt, and a black vest. He looked at me and I smiled. I ran into his arms and held him tight. Madame Giry looked away, a hurt look on her face. I could see a tear roll down her face as she walked away.

"Stop." Erik said to her.

She turned around and looked at him. He walked over to her and took her in his arms, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you." He said. "You're truly my hero."

He walked back to me and took my hand, leading me through the door way into the darkness and I watched the thin strip of light that came from the room disappear as Madame Giry closed the door behind us. I awoke hours later in Erik's bed. I was alone, buried in the red, silk, sheets. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. It had been another amazing night, but it seemed to me that this wasn't the right thing to be doing. I wanted to be able to take him out of this place, to let him walk through the busy city streets of Paris without anyone trying to hurt him, without people pointing and laughing at him as if he were a side-show attraction. I walked out of the room, once again taking the sheets with me. I felt so strange, not waking up in a nightdress like I always had, but instead waking up wearing nothing. Erik was sitting at his organ bench, once again. This time he wasn't working on anything though. He just sat there, one leg crossed over the other, staring at his organ. I came up behind him and sat a hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked at me, a light smile formed across his face. I sat down on his lap and kissed his lips. I felt him wrap his arms around my back and he held me tight. I held his head against my chest and sighed deeply. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. He looked so happy and so sad at the same time.

"What?" I asked him.

"I love you." He said.

I smiled at him and kissed is forehead.

"I love you too."

He kissed me back and I felt him move his hands beneath the sheets and up my back. The imprint of all ten of his fingers against my bare skin sent a chill down my spine. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of him. A smile spread across my face as he let the sheet fall to the floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tighter against him and kissed me deeply. I kissed him back, my hands clutching the back of his neck.

"Erik?" I asked him, quietly.

"Yes?"

"Did… did you really kill those men?"

He looked at me, shocked and awkward. I knew that that was quite possibly the worst moment for me to ask him that, but I didn't want to put it off any longer. He slowly pushed me off of him and stood up. I kneeled down and gathered the sheets, wrapping them around my body. He walked about ten feet away and stopped.

"I… I'm sorry." I said to him, sitting down on the bench. "But if you love me like you say you do then I deserve to know why you did what you did."

He turned around and looked at me. He looked so angry at that point that it was almost scary. I looked down at my lap, my hands folded on top. I didn't like how unpredictable he was, it was a side of him he hadn't yet shown.

"If you love me at all you'll accept that what's done is done and there's no reason to get back into it!"

"Why can't you just tell me, I won't care if you killed them!"

"Because I didn't kill anyone!"

I bit my lip and turned away from him. Why did I have to say anything? Everything was perfect, everything was beautiful, and I ruined the moment completely. I stood up and walked over to him. I put a hand on his face and turned it to look at me.

"I'm not trying to upset you; I just want to know you. No matter how bad or good or amazing anything you've ever done is, I'll still love you no matter what."

"I just want to forget it all happened."

"I know." I said, hugging him. "I understand that, but if we can't talk to each other then we're going to have an even more difficult time then before."

He looked into my eyes and sighed. He closed them and opened them slowly, releasing tears that rolled down his cheeks.

"There's too much evidence against me for anyone to believe me."

"What do you mean?"

"When Joseph Bouquet was hung, I had been planning on watching the gala in box 5 the whole time. I watched Christine playing the part I had told them to cast Carlotta for, but they did not listen, and then noticed Raoul in my box. So I left, went up the highest row I could and yelled down at them "Did I not instruct that box five was to be kept empty?" everyone got very flustered so I left and went up to the roof. I looked up at the sky and asked god why he had made me the way I was. I was in such pain and anger that I almost didn't notice Raoul and Christine come running out onto the balcony. I ran behind one of the statues and hid out of site. I listened to everything they were saying, and that's when I found out that I was being accused of killing Joseph. That's when I knew if I had just been quiet no one would have suspected me immediately like that. I blame myself."

"Oh Erik… I'm so sorry."

"You believe me?"

I smiled at him and kissed him. "Of course I believe you. I love you."

He lifted my chin with a finger and kissed my lips. He looked deep into my eyes and smiled lightly.

"You're the only person on earth that I don't feel like I have to impress. I don't have to be nervous or scared when I'm with you."

I smiled at him and held his hand in mine. He kissed me again and I leaned into his chest. I closed my eyes and let him hold me close to him.

"You're the only person I've ever been close to. I love you so much."

"I love you too Erik, more than anything."

I looked up and kissed his cheek, his scarred cheek. I ran a hand across it and kissed it again. I moved down and kissed his lips again, then his neck and his shoulders, then his lips again. He stopped and looked down at me, the most beautiful smile spread across his face. He kneeled down and sat on the ground.

"Erik?"

"Yes?"

"Never leave me."

"Never…" he said, as I kissed him and held him close.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

The week came and went and the time came for me to go back. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I knew I'd see him again soon, but I just didn't want to leave him, ever. I could remember the night before, the most beautiful night of all.

"I feel like I don't deserve you." He had said.

I smiled at him and shook my head.

"I feel like I don't deserve you either. But I love you Erik, more than anything on this earth, and I will stay with you," I pulled his face down and kissed him, then looked back at him. "Until death do us part..."

He looked at me with such disbelief that I thought he would cry again, but he didn't. He smiled lightly at me and kissed my forehead.

Madame Giry had come to get me shortly after. She looked in panic, but somehow a happy sort of panic.

"Erik!" she called.

He walked up to her, taking me with him.

"What?"

"I have such wonderful news Erik, such absolutely wonderful news!"

"What?"

Madame just calmed her breathing down and looked at him with a smile.

"A man just turned himself in for all of the murders you were accused of! He told the police everything and even gave them a cape and a mask he had used as a disguise. Everyone knows you're innocent! The whole opera house is in tears with regret, Firmin and Andre feel like they drove you to your death!"

Erik looked as if he had just seen a ghost. He looked at me, then back to Madame Giry.

"I… I…"

"You're innocent Erik! Everybody knows it. The entire city of Paris knows it."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was so over come with joy that I jumped into his arms and he hugged me tighter then he ever had before. He spun me around in circles and the two of us laughed.

"This is amazing!" I said.

I looked at Madame Giry and she smiled at me. But my smile vanished.

"Well, then wait. What's going to happen?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is can I bring him up now? Can he go outside? What's going to happen? Everyone thinks he's dead Madame, what would happen if I were to bring him up? If he has a chance to go up there freely then I want him to take that chance. He deserves to live a normal life."

She looked away for a moment, and thought to herself. Then she looked back at us.

"We can bring him up… but we need to do it properly, at tonight's banquet. Amelia, tonight you and I can make the announcement and Erik can make and entrance that none of them will ever forget."

I looked at Erik, and he looked back at me.

"Is that okay Erik?" I asked him. He smiled at me and shook his head.

"Anything you want..." I smiled back at him, kissed him, and then walked to Madame Giry.

"Tonight Erik, we will come at six o'clock. Be prepared."

Then the two of us rowed away and I was filled with the most joy I had ever felt in my life. Erik would finally be free of this awful lair, this awful prison. When I got back up to my dormitory, Meg was sitting on the bed. She looked at me in shock when I came in.

"You're back. Oh my goodness, have you heard?"

"Heard what?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn't know.

"Louis Cartier turned himself in for the Phantom's murders! It's so unbelievable! I just can't believe that after all of this time, when we were so convinced that he had been murdering all those men… we were so quick to judge." She looked at me and shook her head. "It was only because of his face that we had found it so easy to accuse him. André and Firmin aren't even angry about the fire; they said that they drove him to insanity."

I smiled to myself. I was glad that they were in such emotional pain. To put Erik through what they had was completely criminal.

"Well, I guess everyone learned quite a lesson then."

"But you must still be filled with such hate."

I turned to her confused.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because of what happened to Raoul, he did threaten his life."

"I'm can't be angry about that anymore. It was a horrible thing, but it could have happened to any of the other men that fell for Christine… and I know now that Erik could never kill anyone, he let him go, his heart is in the right place and mine has forced me to let go."

She looked at me in confusion and wonder.

"That's wonderful Amelia. The fact that you're so forgiving is so rare."

I smiled at her and then walked over to my closet. I pulled out a yellow gown and began to dress for the banquet. Meg tied my corset. It felt strange to put on, I hadn't worn it in nearly two weeks. I looked at myself in the mirror, the dress was so beautiful, gold, yellow and white, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever worn in my life. Erik had given it to me; he had put it in my closet when I was asleep in the lair, and then come back down. He woke me up and then said he had given me a surprise for me in my room. I had been so amazed by his willingness to go up above that I pulled him down to me and made sweet love to him. I loved him so much, it was absolutely uncontrollable. Every time I saw him I just wanted to hold him close to me and have him hold me back.

"Oh my… Amelia! What a beautiful dress! Where on earth did you get this?"

"Oh, a very close friend gave it to me."

"Goodness, it's incredible. You'll make everyone else look absolutely dreadful if you wear this." She said smiling. "There will be many respectable men there tonight, maybe you'll meet someone. Oh my, maybe! What am I saying, you'll surely meet someone."

I smiled lightly at her and shook my head.

"I'm not interested in that tonight."

I then slipped into the dress and Meg tied up the back. I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I must admit, it was the best I had ever looked. I then allowed my hair to fall down over my shoulders in long waves and pulled some of it back in a golden clip. Meg put on a pink dress that was also very beautiful, but I must say that I did have the upper hand with my wardrobe. Meg and I walked downstairs to the lobby, which was full of people. As Meg and I walked down the stairs, many men turned their heads and looked at us. Some of them smiled and talked to each other. I found Madame Giry and pulled her aside.

"Madame, when are we going to get Erik?"

"In a moment, we just need to wait for everyone to go into the banquet hall."

We stood there for a moment and Firmin and André let everyone into the banquet hall. The two of us hurried off up the stairs and into my dormitory. Madame Giry pulled the mirror aside and revealed Erik, standing there waiting. He looked absolutely amazing. He wore a black suit with a maroon vest underneath, the same outfit he wore the night I had first met him, his hair was slicked back nicely. He turned to face us and I saw that he was wearing his white mask. I hated the mask, I hated the fact that he felt he had to wear it. But I knew he wouldn't feel comfortable without it, and we had no idea what would happen that night. He dropped his jaw slightly when he saw me. He looked me up and down a bit and I smiled. I took his hands in mine and he smiled at me.

"You… you look so beautiful."

"Thank you," I said. Then I kissed him. "You look wonderful Erik."

Madame Giry smiled at the two of us.

"Come now, we must go."

"How are we going to do this Madame? We can't just waltz in."

"I'll take care of it."


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Madame Giry went to the bottom of the stairs in the banquet hall. Everyone turned their attention to her, as usual.

"Everyone, everyone." Said Firmin. "Please give your attention to Madame Giry. She has told her that she has a very important announcement to make."

I walked down and stood beside her on the stair case. I felt myself shaking, I felt sick, I was so nervous.

"Thank you monsieur," she said. "Everyone, I have a very important announcement to make! As you all know, Louis Cartier recently turned himself in for the murders of three different men in the opera house, murders that we accused the phantom of. Well, now that we all know that the phantom is innocent; there is something you all should know. First of all, the phantom is very much… alive."

Everyone gasped and began to talk to one another nervously, the buzzing conversation echoed through the hall.

"So please everyone, I trust that you will put the past well behind you so that we may allow him to join us tonight. He wants nothing more then to be treated as an equal, nothing more then respect and dignity, and I hope you will all be wise enough to give him that chance."

"Of course Madame," said André. "Please, allow him to come forward."

Madame Giry looked back and motioned for Erik to come forward. He soon appeared at the top of the stairs, his hands at his sides. Everyone in the hall gasped and stared up at him in astonished disbelief.

"I can't believe it…" Firmin whispered, under his breath.

Erik slowly made his way down the stairs and to the bottom. I held out my hand and took his, pulling him by my side. I looked out among the crowd, their faces white and their jaws dropped open. I thought to myself, "Oh no, this isn't good…" But then, Meg came out of the crowd. She walked up to the three of us and stood in front of Erik. She looked at him for a moment, then, to my surprise, smiled at him.

"Bonjour monsieur," she said, holding her hand out to him. He looked down at it, and then hesitantly took it in his. She shook his hand and greeted him warmly, then looked at me.

"So that's where you were all week." She said.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "That's where I was all week."

She smiled again and looked back at Erik.

"Have a good night." She said, then turned and walked back into the crowd. The music started to play again and people began to talk amongst themselves. Firmin and André came rushing over to us. I could read the look on their faces; they were scared to death.

"Monsieur, monsieur! How kind of you to come!" Firmin exclaimed nervously.

"Yes sir, of course," Andre muttered nervously. "You must be so relieved to, um, well, finally be out."

"Out of the cage you imprisoned me in? Yes, I am."

"Well, I suppose we deserved that quite a bit. Anyway, we have a business proposition for you."

"Do you?"

"Yes, we would like to share management with you monsieur… uh…"

"Erik." I said. They looked at me, then down at my arm, which was linked with his.

"Are… are you two…"

"Yes." I said, cutting him off. I didn't want him going into further detail.

"Alright then, Erik, come with us so that we may discuss this."

Erik looked at me, as If I was supposed to make his decision for him. I smiled at him and nodded, then kissed him.

"Go on." I said. "I'll have plenty to keep me occupied."

He smiled lightly at me and then walked off with the two of them. They got him champagne and they began a long discussion. People began walking up to him, asking him questions, and even getting some smiles out of him. I was so amazed at the sudden transformation that the people of France had suddenly experienced. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Meg and some of the other chorus girls standing around me with hopeful smiles.

"Is it true?" one of them asked me.

"What?"

"That you and the phantom are in love?"

"That you have been down in his lair for a whole week?"

"That you've seen him without his mask?"

I smiled at their wonder and amusement with my fairy tale love story.

"Yes, yes, and yes. Those are all true."

"Really?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but he just doesn't really seem like the kind of person who could… fall in love…"

"Well, maybe that's because no one ever gave him a chance before."

"Well," said Meg. "Have you two…"

"What?" I asked curiously.

Meg made a face and the other girls laughed. That's when it hit me that they were referring to mine and Erik's sex life. I blushed and laughed a bit. They all started to giggle and squeal.

"What was it like?" one of them asked.

I paused for a moment and smiled lightly.

"Absolutely amazing..." I said. "Excuse me."

I smiled and walked off, leaving them to their girlish banter, I walked up to Erik and he smiled at me.

"What are you gentlemen talking about?"

"Erik just decided to join us in management." Firmin said, lifting his glass.

I smiled at him and then at Erik. He looked so happy to be free, to feel equal; I was so overcome with joy.

"You're cousin should be so pleased to see that we finally got that extra help." Said André. Firmin nudged him with his elbow, to get him to stop talking. The smiles on Erik's and my face faded. I cleared my throat uncomfortably and then gave them a weak smile.

"Well, gentlemen, thank you for a lovely night but Erik and I have some private matters to attend to."

They nodded, and the two of us walked up the stairs and into the hall. I stopped him and looked into his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. I just wasn't entirely prepared for all of this."

I smiled at him. I loved it when he showed his more sensitive side. He almost seemed like a young child at times, but he wasn't. He was a man, a handsome, strong, loving man and I loved him for it. I took him by the hand and led him to my dormitory. I closed the door behind us and kissed him deeply and passionately. I pushed him back and he fell onto my bed. I turned around and let him untie my dress and corset. I removed his clothing as well and then sat on his lap while he still sat on the edge of the bed. I looked deeply into his eyes and he held me close to him. I smiled at him and laughed.

"We need to find another hobby." I said. He smiled at me and we laughed together. I think that was the first time I ever really heard him laugh. His laugh was deep and warm, really very beautiful. I was so in love with him and I think it truly happened that night. We simply sat there in each others arms; he traced kisses across my shoulders, neck and chest. He kissed my lips, cheeks, forehead and eyes. No one had ever kissed my eyes before, but it was the perfect thing, and it brought tears to my eyes. They rolled down my cheek and onto his.

"What's wrong?"

"I love you so much Erik, I'm just so happy that you finally feel wanted and accepted."

He touched a hand to my cheek and smiled at me, brushing the tears from my face.

"I felt that way as soon as I met you…" he said. I smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

That night, we just lay in the bed of my dormitory for hours. I lay in his arms while we both were beneath the sheets. I looked at him at one point and kissed him on the cheek. I rose up about five inches between our faces and kissed his lips.

"Erik?" I said.

"Yes?"

"Will you… sing for me?"

He paused for a moment and then rolled over. He was now on top of me, looking deeply into my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him slip his under my back. He rested his head on my chest and I held his head there, running my fingers through his hair. He began to sing to me the most beautiful song I had ever heard. His voice was indescribable. There were no words left in my body when he started to sing. I felt like he had complete control over me, his voice wrapping around me like chains. When he was finished I was absolutely blown away. He didn't look up at me, but just hugged me tighter. I ran my hands from his head down his back and kissed the top of his head.

"Make love to me Erik."

He did as I asked, but this time it was different. It felt so free. There were a million people near us behind that door, and we didn't even care. On his knees, he held my hips with his hands, running them down to my outer thighs. He pulled me closer to him, drawing himself deep inside of me. He reached back, wrapping my legs around his waist and holding my legs there. I balanced myself back on my elbows for a short period, and then he lifted me up so I met his eyes. I pushed him back slowly so that I was on top of him. I leaned over and kissed him softly as he wrapped his arms around my back. Then, I began to move slowly on top of him, hands placed on his firm chest. He grasped my hips, guiding me, and I soon felt the most incredible swarm of heat overcome my entire body.

"Oh god Erik…" I managed to release, exasperated. And then I released my own moans of ultimate release, leaning back slightly and gripping his legs behind me.

When we finished I fell asleep in the bed. I woke up later to find him no longer in the room, but Meg there in her bed instead, reading a book by candle light. She looked at me and smiled.

"Have a good rest?" she asked. I smiled at her and rubbed my eyes.

"Where is he?"

"Oh, he's down stairs at the party. The chorus girls aren't allowed to stay out at those things past nine o'clock, even though they go on until about one in the morning. He told me to let you sleep; he said you were very tired. I think I know why now."

I laughed and got out of the bed. Erik had put me into one of my nightgowns for me.

"So, I take it I won't be able to go get him."

She shook her head.

"Normally no, but I think they'll make an exception for you."

I smiled at her and then put on a dress. A simple dress that I could go out in and come back quick. I ran out the door and down the stairs into the hall. There were so many people there, but he wasn't hard to find. So many people were around him. I walked in and took his arm. He saw me and smiled.

"What are you doing?"

"I came to get you."

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was, but I woke up."

He smiled at me and excused himself from the group. We walked over to the stairs.

"You didn't have to leave me you know." I said jokingly.

He frowned at me and hung his head.

"I'm sorry. I… I don't want to hurt you."

"No, no, no, Erik. Don't worry; I was only fooling with you. I want you to mingle with the people."

He smiled at me and then kissed me.

"I'll be up in my room." I told him and then left.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

The next few of days went by splendidly. People were so open to Erik and kind. I was really amazed. The problem was that no one had been able to reach Raoul. He and Christine considered be home their honeymoon and refused to be bothered my any outside news. Then, about a week after the party, my life changed dramatically. I had been outside in the lobby, talking to André and Firmin about the recent Gala, when I heard the two front doors burst open.

"Amelia!" I heard someone call out.

I then turned around, and dropped my jaw, to see Raoul and Christine coming towards me.

"Raoul!" I said, then ran to him and hugged him tight. "Oh Raoul! I missed you!"

He laughed and hugged me back. Christine smiled lightly at me and then cleared her throat.

"Miss Daaè?" Firmin asked. "Oh my, you look ravishing!"

"Thank you monsieur." She said quietly.

"So, gentlemen, how is everything, I trust you have found another manager during my absence?"

The two of them swallowed hard and looked at each other in shock.

"You… you mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" he asked, still smiling.

"Well Raoul, a lot has changed since you've been gone." I said.

"Like what?" He asked, a confused and concerned look on his face.

That's when we all heard Erik's voice echo though the room.

"Amelia? I need to…" then he stopped. He stood at the top of the stairs, staring down in shock. Raoul and Christine stood frozen in fear. Raoul looked at all of us in anger.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked me.

Erik then began to slowly descend the stairs until he got the bottom. He walked towards us and folded his hands behind his back.

"Monsieur De Chagney…" he said. "Good evening."

"Raoul," I said. "We tried everyway possible to get the news to you but we couldn't get a hold of you in anyway. I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? You're sorry? You're letting a murderer run my opera house!"

"He's not a murderer." Said Madame Giry. "He was proven innocent over a week ago."

Christine looked as if she just would fall to pieces, her eyes focused on Erik and never leaving.

"Raoul, there's something else I need to tell you." I said to him. He looked at me in such disappointment.

"Amelia, my sweet Amelia. What else could possibly be happening?"

"Please don't be angry Raoul…"

"Angry? Angry does not even begin to describe how I am feeling right now! You've all been brainwashed into believing he's some sort of a saint, but he's not! He's a monster! He's a hideous, evil monster and…"

That's when something inside of me snapped. I don't know where it came from, but I reached up and slapped Raoul across the face harder then I had ever hit anyone or anything in my life. He stumbled back and looked at me in utter shock, as did everyone else.

"Don't you ever, ever say anything like that about him again! I swear to god Raoul I will kill you if you ever say anything like that again, ever!"

Raoul covered his cheek with his hand, covering the large red welt on his face from my slap. I then, felt tears begin to run down my face, so I turned to Erik and grabbed his arm. I pulled him away out of that room and up the stairs out of site. In the hallway of the dormitories, I fell to the floor and began to cry. He knelt beside me and I hugged him close to me.

"Oh, Erik! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for what he said, I had no idea he could be so cruel!" I continued to cry and he held me tight. When I pulled away, he had a light smile on his face.

"Shhhhhh…" he said, holding my hand. "No one has ever done that for me. I didn't think it was possible to love you anymore then I did before, but I now know I was wrong."

I smiled and laughed at him within my crying and he kissed my forehead.

"I love you so much Erik." I said, holding his hands in mine. Then he pulled me up off of the ground. We heard something coming toward us and we turned to see Raoul. He pushed Erik aside, very hard.

"Stay the hell away from her!"

"Stop Raoul!" I yelled at him, blocking his way to Erik.

"Amelia! You don't know this man! You may think you do but you don't! You just don't!"

"Raoul just stop it!"

"I will not just sit back and watch you become a part of his plan!"

"I love him!"

Raoul stopped talking, his jaw dropped slightly. He looked at me, then to Erik, and back to me again.

"I love him Raoul…"

He looked at Erik in utter fury.

"What did you do?" Raoul asked Erik, almost looking like he could cry. "You bastard! What have you done? She's only a young girl and you stole her innocence!"

"I let him Raoul! It was my doing, not his! I wanted to do it, and I wanted to be with him, and I still do and always will! There is nothing you can say or do that will ever change that Raoul! I love him… If you love me as much as you say you do then you'll accept it!"

He looked at me as if I had slapped him in the face again.

"You're supposed to be my best friend Raoul. How can you abandon me when I need you the most?" Erik came from behind me and took my hand. He pulled me away down the hall into my dormitory and we left Raoul standing there in the Hall.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

"Raoul is like your brother." Meg said, calmingly. "He's just acting that way because he doesn't think anyone is good enough for you."

"You weren't there Meg." I said to her. "He's horrible! I never knew he could be so cruel! I didn't know anyone could!"

Erik sat rubbing my back as I cried into his shoulder. Meg looked at Erik and smiled lightly. She took his hand.

"Come with me Erik." She said to him. "We'll be right back Amelia." The two of them walked out into the hall and closed the door. I listened to then through the door.

"I'm so sorry about everything that happened today Erik." She said to him.

"It's quite alright Megan, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, but Amelia is so hurt. Maybe you should go and talk to Raoul?"

"No."

"But I think if he knows you're really in love with her that maybe he'll listen."

There was a long pause before he said anything else.

"Alright, where is he?"

*****

Raoul sat in the guest room, in a large armchair staring into the fire. He had a look of anger on his face that could scare away the devil. Erik walked into the room and stood beside the chair.

"Monsieur?" he said to Raoul.

Raoul looked up and then shot up from his seat.

"What are you doing here?"

"I want to discuss what happened today."

"What is there to discuss?"

"I want you to know that I love your cousin more then anything I've ever loved in my life. I want you to know that I would never hurt her and I need you to know you needn't worry about her when she is with me."

"Needn't worry? I needn't worry about my little cousin falling for a murderer?"

Erik stayed surprisingly calm, almost unaffected by the comment.

"I didn't kill anyone Raoul. You're the only one who doesn't seem to understand that."

Raoul walked closer to him, getting inches away from his face.

"You had a rope around my neck, didn't you?"

"This isn't about you Monsieur, and this isn't about me, this is about her. Yes, I had a rope around your neck, but if you recall, I never had the gall to proceed. I did everything in my power to scare Christine into my arms… nothing worked… and it wasn't worth it. I let you go because I couldn't stand seeing that woman in so much pain and I knew in that very moment nothing would ever bring us together. I've finally found the most important thing in my life, and what's different, is that it's mutual, and there's nothing you could ever do to change that…"

*****

Erik then walked back to the dormitory where Meg and I were sleeping. He took my shoulder and nudged it gently. I rolled over and opened my eyes. I smiled up at him weakly.

"Hello." I said to him. He smiled at me and motioned for the door with a simple movement of his head.

"Come with me."

He led me downstairs to the banquet hall. We walked out the middle of the hall and looked deeply into each others eyes. I smiled awkwardly at him.

"What's going on?" I asked him. He took both of my hands in his and brought them to his lips. He kissed them both and smiled at me.

"I love you so much Amelia." He said to me. I smiled at him and laughed a bit.

"I love you too Erik."

"I know that it won't be easily accepted by some people, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you and you only."

Then, he lowered himself down to one knee and held my left hand in his. He looked up at me with his beautiful green eyes. It was at that moment that I knew what he was doing. My heart stopped and I felt my throat dry out a bit.

"Amelia, will you be my wife? If you do I promise I will never stop loving you for the rest of my life. I will try my best to make you the happiest woman in the world." I smiled the biggest smile I could at him and started to cry a bit.

"Oh Erik… you already have." I said.

He then smiled at me and rose up fast, picking me up on the way. He lifted me up to meet his eyes and kissed me long a deep. I saw tears rolling down his cheeks just like mine.

"I love you Erik." I said, and a kissed him deeper than I ever had before.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

_~Christine Daae~_

Christine couldn't believe what she was seeing. Peering around the corner into the banquet hall, she witnessed this seemingly unreal propsal. The deep kiss that Amelia and Erik had shared made her stomach turn to knots. Why did she feel this way? She turned away and rushed back down the hall as quietly as she could, back to her room. In a perfect world, she supposed that Erik falling for another woman would bring her relief, but now actually seeing it made her feel more tense than ever before. She loved Raoul, she couldn't stand to see him so upset, and yet, that wasn't what was causing this anxiousness and inner anguish.

The sight of Erik holding her made Christine want to die; seeing the look in his eyes whenever Amelia was near him, seeing the way he seemed to light up with every fiber of his normally dark being, it killed her.

Christine closed her bedroom door, seeing that Raoul was still not back for bed. She sat down on a stool facing the mirror and stared deep into her own eyes. Her reflection seemed to be taunting her, harassing her almost.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked her self aloud. "Have you completely lost your senses?"

She remembered the way Erik used to sing to her, it was like hearing the angels pleading with her to come stay in heaven. She remember the way he would hold her, the feeling of his strong hands or her, the scent of his hot and sweet breath upon her face.

"Christine?" said a voice from behind her, pulling her from her trance.

She turned to see Raoul, closing the door behind him. He walked to wards her and knelt down to one knee, meeting her eye level.

"Are you alright my love? You look a fright."

"Yes…" she muttered, after a moment of hesitation. "I'm fine. Just a bit worn from the day's travel that's all."

He looked at her, smiling lightly… weakly. He softly touched her face, then ran his face through her hair. His face was only slightly reassuring to her… he didn't make her feel the same sense of assurance as he had before… why? Why was this happening?

"I know that this must be absolutely horrible for you. But you're not to worry my love, there's only a matter of time before this problem is resolved once and for all…"

*****

I pulled Erik down the hall by the hand, running as if I were a girl in the school yard. I couldn't believe that had just happened; I had been proposed to. In a way, it seemed to soon, but my fear was completely outweighted by my utter joy. I pulled him into my room and slammed the door shut.

"Shhh!" Erik said, smiling. "You mustn't wake anyone at this time of night!"

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing, and then turned to find Meg asleep, not even stirred by the commotion. I walked slowly with him to the mirror as he pushed it out of the way and allowed it to close behind us as we made our way down the long dark corridor. I clung to him the whole way, not able to imagine ever letting him go. When we go the boat on the river, I pulled him to me and kissed him. He kept his balance, holding me gently and kissing me back.

"I love you so much…" he whispered between kisses. I smiled.

"I want you… forever… I want you…" I whispered to him, practically out of breath.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Through all of the excitement, Erik and I decided not to tell anyone about the proposal right away. Between the commotion Raoul had caused the previous night and the work that needed to be down around the theatre, I knew it wasn't a wise idea to tell everyone. Erik didn't mind; he said all he cared about was that I said yes. He didn't care when or how it happened, just knowing it was going to was all he needed. It made me light up, how passionate he was about everything. Through the midst of everything bad that could possibly happen, everything that could possibly go wrong, he was the only person who stayed calm and collected. I didn't understand how he could stay so centered when he was the one who was being attacked. Part of me thinks it was a matter of getting used to it his whole life, and another part of me thinks that our relationship made him so happy that he didn't care what anyone else said. I like to think it was the ladder; it seemed much more fair to him. Whether I liked it or not, through my anger, I knew that the most important thing to do was talk to Raoul.

I woke up the morning after the proposal in the boat, stripped of all of my clothes, wrapped in a single thin blanket. Erik lay behind me, holding me from behind. I smiled to myself, humored by the thought that we'd never even had the self-control to wait and get out of the boat. I sat up slowly and yawned, stretching and shaking out my hair. I nudged Eric gently to wake up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Erik," I whispered in his ear. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at me. He seemed a little surprised by where he was too. I laughed at the confused expression on his face as he sat up.

"Well…" he said, kissing me. "We need to learn to be patient, don't we?"

I laughed again, kissing him back.

"Patience is overrated." I said. "And I think celebration is worth being a little ridiculous now and then."

I really wished I could stay there with him like that for the rest of the day, but I knew I had to go back up and try to resolve the situation with Raoul. I smiled at Erik and he put and arm around me and leaned against the back of the boat.

"I'd agree with that," he said, intertwining his other hand with mine. "I feel like I've been enduring a lot of ridiculousness lately." I smiled at him mischievously. "…I blame you."

I laughed at pushed him away. He pulled me back and kissed me passionately. I gently held onto him and looked into his eyes when finished, then sighed.

"I need to go." I said quietly. He nodded.

"Yes, I know you do."

"I don't want to…" I said, holding him still. "I wish this all could just go away… I wish he could just let it go."

"Some things are harder to let go than others. As much as I'd like to say that this is all his fault, you and I both know that isn't so."

"How do you do it?" I asked, staring in his deep green eyes.

"Do what?"

"How do you manage to understand everyone's side? You've come so far since we first met… you're so different."

He lifted my hand and kissed it, then kissed me. He looked at me and smiled gently.

"Sometimes when you meet the right kind of people, they change you for the better…"

*****

I changed as quickly as I could once I got back to my room. I left Erik alone to work on his music, he hadn't been able to in quite some time. I walked down the hall towards Raoul and Christine's room and stared at the door a moment. Taking a deep breath, I gently tapped on the wooden door; nothing. I knocked again, then slowly opened the door. It was empty, I would have to look for them. A game of cat and mouse was the last thing I was in the mood for, but it didn't look like I had a choice. I left the dormitory area and entered the lobby of the theatre. Firmin and Andre were assisting some of the decorators in where to put certain flowers and things. A better word that assisting would have been ordering, as all they really did was stand there, point and yell. I could tell that they were under quite a bit of stress, being that the opera house was newly reopening.

"Monsieurs!" I called to them, crossing the lobby.

"Ah, Amelia!" Firmin said. "Lovely morning, is it not?"

"Yes, quite lovely. Have you seen my cousin anywhere?"

"Last I checked he was in the banquet hall." Andre said. "He was being interviewed by the papers on the grand reopening such."

"And his feelings about the new management team…" Firmin added, looking quite displeased. "Lets hope he doesn't scare anyone away with his crazy stories."

"They're not crazy stories." I said, shaking my head. "They're simply the same stories from another's point of view."

"Well let's just hope we didn't bite the hand that fed us—no, no you imbecile! You musn't hang that there! There's not enough weight!"

The two of them darted off the handle the seemingly incompetent decorator. I started off towards the banquet hall where, sure enough, I found Raoul. He was shaking the hand of a member of the French press and forcing a small smile. When the man left, he walked passes me, tipping his hat. I smiled at him and then looked back at Raoul, who caught eyes with me, looking nervous. I walked toward him, being sure he knew I wasn't intending to attack him again, but also letting him know I was not nervous even though I was. I stopped in front of him.

"Good morning Amelia." He said quietly.

"Raoul…" I said. "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head and looked away.

"Amelia I have no time for this right now." He began to try to walk passed me but I stopped him.

"That doesn't matter Raoul we have to talk about this. I'm not going to allow you to avoid the subject, or me for that matter."

"I just don't understand…" He said, shaking his head. "I send you to learn dance at greatest opera house in the world and instead you get caught up in this mess…"

"Raoul," I said, holding him by the arms and looking at him. "It's not a mess. You know me… I don't get myself into anything I can't handle!"

"That's exactly what you've done here Amelia!"

"What? You think I wont be able to handle this situation? Is that it? Do you really think I'm that incompetent?!"

"I think you're young Amelia! You're too young to understand what you're doing! What you're getting yourself into!"

"No Raoul! You're just scared!"

He stopped and looked at me, his face full of anger and hatred, mixed with such intense sadness.

"I never said that I wasn't…" he said. "I'm terrified, and I won't let this go any further."

"Raoul!" I called out as he tossed my hands off of him and walked away. "Raoul you can't just take control of everything you don't agree with!"

"Watch me…"

He walked out of the room, forcing others to the side as he pushed his way out. I couldn't believe what I was seeing; this was Raoul… MY Raoul! He was always so sweet an understanding, so calm and rational. I had seen a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. It was a look of anger, a look that told me there was no telling what he would do, I never thought I'd see the day that I was afraid of him, but I did. I was so afraid of Raoul…


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

"Amelia, are you sure?" Meg asked. "That just doesn't sound like Raoul…"

Meg and I sat on my bed in our dorm. She seemed very concerned for me, her hand on my shoulder rubbing it gently. I was so worried; Raoul had never been like this before. At that moment, the whole situation seemed surreal. I felt as if I had floated out of my own body and was watching this whole catastrophe happen.

"I'm positive Meg…" I bit my lip and shook my head. She sighed deeply.

"I don't know what to say Amelia… I wish there was a way this could all be resolved easily."

"Yes… as do I."

There was a knock on our door. Meg told whoever it was to come in and, to our shock, entered Christine. Meg smiled brightly and jumped off the bed. She ran to Christine and hugged her.

"Oh Christine!" She said happily. Christine smiled and hugged her back, looking the happiest I would ever see her look.

"Meg. I'm so glad to see you." She said, pulling back and looking at her friend. "I was wondering why I hadn't seen you yet."

"Yes, we had rehearsal all through the day when you got here."

"Rehearsal… Oh, I do miss that." Christine said, smiling lightly. "I do hope it's going well."

Christine looked at me, her smile growing weaker, but staying. I could tell she was trying to seem upbeat.

"Meg, do you think I could have a moment alone with Amelia?"

I looked at Meg confused, and she did the same. She paused for a moment and then looked back at Christine, nodding and smiling along.

"Of course." She left. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Amelia, I just wanted to say something…"

"Yes?"

"I'm… I'm so sorry about everything that has happened…"

"It's fine, it's no ones fault really. I suppose these things happen…"

"No Amelia…" She said, slowly making her way towards me. She hesitated, then sat down on the bed next to me, keeping a comfortable distance. "These things don't just happen. Not things like this…"

I couldn't for the life of me tell where she was going with this comment. She had a look of such concern and anxiousness in her eyes; a look you'd never expect to see from someone such as Christine Daae.

"Christine… um… I… I'm afraid I don't know what you mean…"

Christine paused a moment. I looked at her, her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment… they seemed lifeless, like the eyes of a doll. I couldn't tell if she even was aware of her surroundings, or if she was submerged in the obvious passion she had for whatever she was trying to tell me. I was worried for her… from the moment we'd met, I could tell something was off… but now, oh now… she wasn't well.

"You can't be with him…" she finally said, quietly.

"…I beg your pardon?"

"You can't be with him Amelia… no one can. He's not capable of loving anyone except—" she stopped, hesitated. "You just can't be with him…"

"Christine, I know that you're very—"

"No! You don't know anything!" She said, alarmed, shooting up from the bed. I looked up at her in shock, not understanding what was happening. "You don't know him! You don't know what he wants! What he needs! You don't know anything! You think you love him, you think you know what he is! Where his passion lies! You know nothing!"

"Miss Daae!" I shouted back, standing up and going toward her. "I do not know where this is all coming from right now, but I certainly do not intend to listen to it anymore. Leave this room at once!" I pointed to the door and stood there, staring at her with a look of such resentment; such disgust. She looked at me the same… then she left, slamming the door behind her. I stood there for a moment, not quite sure about what had just happened. What on earth was she talking about? What did she mean? Why was she so angry? So… defensive? Aggressive?...

*****

_~Christine Daae~_

Christine stormed down the hallway, passing by several girls returning from practicing. They looked at her as she passed, surely wondering why she seems so angry. She walked down the hall, down the stairs, to the lobby. Passing Andre and Firmin, through the doors to the back of the theatre and all the way to the room she'd known not more than a year ago… her dressing room…

She walked in and closed the door behind her. She frowned deeply, tears welling up, seeing that the room was completely different. The fire over a year ago had surely destroyed this room, the repairs left it a different room; almost an entirely new world. She walked further into the room and sat on the new red velvet sofa that had been put there. She looked around, the mirrors reflecting her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the smell of the old room she'd once spent so much time in. The smell had kept, it was the same; the smell of roses, perfume, cigars… she stood up and walked towards the full length mirror against the wall at the end of the room. She got up close to it, looking at herself, placing a hand onto it, pressing her fingertips to each of their reflections. Then, feeling along the edge of the mirror, she pushed it as hard as she could. At first, it didn't budge at all, but soon she could feel it pop, hear the paint cracking and the wall chipping. Then, the mirror popped… it seemed to release itself from the wall and Christine slid it over.

There it was… the path, the corridor, the aisle that led her to her past. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't believe what she was doing. She had to go back though… it was like a drug… she couldn't keep away, it was all she thought about, all she wanted to do. She began to walk down the path slowly after closing the mirror over behind her. The candlelight mounted on each side of the hall was barely enough light for her to see where she was going. It was such an intense feeling; going down to the depths of the opera house. She had done the same thing just a year before, but doing it alone was something entirely different. She reached a set of stairs that led down, down, down into the depths and slowly began to descend them.

Making her way through the maze that was his path, she remembered the first time she'd been led down. He held her hand in his the whole time, looking back at her with his entrancing dark gaze… intoxicating. He brought her to his lair, the one place where he felt the ability to express himself freely and be one with his art. The one place that was truly his… and he'd brought her there to share it with him. She knew how much he had loved her, wanted her, craved her… she had wanted him too, but she didn't understand why. Something about him made her want to throw her life away and just live in his world… that feeling he gave her terrified her to her core. But once again, it was like a drug… and she wanted another taste. She wanted more…

She reached the river and stepped onto the side shore, avoiding the water and began to make her way down. Stepping over stones and avoiding protruding rockery, she finally made it to the entrance of his home. She saw that the gate was open… the gate that had once held Raoul tied to it, fighting for air. She fought back that memory and entered. She prided herself in making it all the way there without falling into the water, and then really realized where exactly she was. She couldn't believe she was there again… it was surreal. She walked up the steps towards his organ, empty and clean. The music and papers that had been strewn everywhere last she'd been there were gone. She looked around and realized that everything indeed seemed different. If possible, it was brighter than it had been before. She ran her hand along the keys as she walked by, then she walked back down the other side of the steps and into his room. The same bed was there and she laid down into it and gathered the sheets up with her, putting them to her face and breathing in the smell of them. She put them down; the smell was different. It was not the smell of her phantom, but of her phantom and his lover. His dark smoky smell had been dabbed over, tainted with a sweet flowery smell that angered Christine.

Where was he?

She walked over to one of his tables, an array of various trinkets scattered across the table. She saw the ring sitting in a glass case, red-velvet lined. She picked it up and gripped it in her fist, holding her fist to her heart. She could remember that night she'd left him, placing that ring gently into his hand, watching the heavy tears stream down his face. He had such a sweet face hidden behind that mask… behind it were the eyes of a boy, not the intimidating man that all others knew. He was so vulnerable, so fragile, and she'd broken him. Pulling the ring back and looking at it she felt a tear run down her cheek. Then there was a sound behind her, the sound of something moving. When she turned around, Erik stood there, staring at her in aw. She froze; it was complete déjà vu… it was the same look he had given her the day she left. A look of shock, dismay and misery.

"Christine?" He uttered quietly. "What on earth are you doing down here?"

He was so beautiful… it was the only real way to describe him. Words like handsome didn't fit a man such as him, he was something else. He wore pants and boots, a fine jacket and a white silk shirt. His hair was combed back finely and the mask she knew all too well was worn. She backed up against the table behind her, excited and frightened, entranced more than anything else.

"What are you doing here Christine?" He asked again, seemily more agitated.

"I…" She started, stuttering. "I… I don't know… I suppose I wanted to see you."

"You should go." He said, motioning to the boat. "You need to."

He started to walk past her, but she followed.

"Why?" She asked, worry in her voice. "Why?"

she moved in front of him and stopped him, he eyes pleading with him not to make her go. He looked so confused, so bothered, so angry.

"What do you mean why? You know exactly why!"

"Please… don't make me leave right now… not like this… I just wanted to see you… I can't stop thinking about you."

"Christine… don't you dare say that?"

"Why?!" she asked, exasperated. "It's true! It's been true since the day I left a year ago. I need you…"

She took his hand in hers and put the ring in it. She closed his fist around in and held his hand in both of hers. He looked down at her hands, stunned. He pulled his hand away, the ring dropping to the floor with a light clink.

"No Christine… you need help…" he said, and walked passed her. She turned around angrily.

"I made a mistake!" She shouted, tears coming even faster than before. Erik turned around and looked at her in disgust.

"You made a mistake?... a mistake?! You didn't make a mistake Christine! You made a choice! You had two choices to make that day; one was easy and comfortable and warm and he loved you, the other was dark and dangerous and frightening… and he loved you…"

Christine's tears had overwhelmed her now, she was seemed entranced by him.

"loved… that's past-tense Christine…" He finished, then pointed to the boat again. "Now leave, get on the boat and go back to your husband."

Christine didn't. She stood there as he turned away from her again and walked back to the stairs. She walked after him, following him up the stairs and meeting him at the top. When she reached him she pull his jacket and pulled him to her, kissing him. She held his face in her hands and kissed the most passionate kiss she'd ever given anyone. He pushed her back off of him and backed into a small table behind him. He looked utterly appalled, as if he may burst into tears.

"Have you gone mad?" he asked her. "Have you completely lost your senses?"

"I asked myself that same question…" she said. "I really did… and maybe I have… but that doesn't change the fact that I want you… not Raoul… you… I love you… I always have, I always will… I love everything about you; your darkness, your depth, the inner torture, the vulnerability… you're beautifully tragic and it scared me at first, but now I know I can't live without it… without you… I need you!"

"You need me?" he asked. She nodded slowly. "You… you can't live without me?"

He began to walk closer to her, slowly making his way towards her. She backed up, her face filled with confusion and fear.

"You're telling me that this is the face of a woman in love? You're telling me you love me, that you can't live without me, because I'm a broken man?"

"That's not—"

"No! Do not interrupt me! You've had complete control of my thoughts and speech for too long now! I won't let you come in and destroy everything that is finally making me truly happy!"

"I made you truly happy!"

"NO! YOU MADE ME UNCONTROLLABLY INSANE!" He shouted, enraged. Christine jumped in her place. "You ruined my already pathetically depressing life and threw me to the side! You don't love me Christine! You don't!"

"How on earth would you know that?!" She shouted back. He stopped, directly in front of her, his face only inches from hers.

"You don't even know my name Christine…"

She stopped, the tears still running down her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. She had no idea what to say, but he was right.

"You don't love me Christine…" he said quietly. "And I stopped loving you a long time ago… now go."

Erik left her there then, retreating back to his room. Christine stood there for a few moments, silent and frozen. Then, sobbing, the made her way down the stairs, onto the boat, and began pushing it along the water and glided away. Her sobs echoed through the cave as she disappeared around the corner in the boat.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

"Amelia," Meg asked, looking into my yes. "Are you alright? You seem awfully distant."

I stood back stage of the theatre with the rest of the dancing girls, waiting for the rehearsal to start. I had so much on my mind I could barely handle it. What had happened with Christine before had be more confused than I had ever been in my life, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I hadn't seen Raoul since our encounter the day before and I had no idea was he was doing, and on top of it all, I had missed nearly all of the practice for the dance conservatory. I really had no idea what I was doing and I was embarrassed beyond all belief. Meg could tell instantly that I wasn't focusing at all on what we were doing.

"I'm fine…" I said, stretching my leg upon the bar against the backstage wall. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Are you nervous about the dancing? I really thin you'll be fine, we went over everything and you knew most of it already anyway."

"It's not that Meg, please don't worry about it. It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with."

I put my leg down and excused myself from the other girls. Walking backstage, I walked down the hall towards the dressing rooms. I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes, taking a breath and trying to collect my thoughts. Hearing a noise from the room next to me, I peered in through the cracked open door. There I saw Christine, closing the mirror behind her. I caught my breath… and stared for a moment in complete awe.

She was down there… with Erik… why had she gone there? Had she found him? What did she say? What did she do? As she came towards the door I snapped out of it and darted around the corner. As she left the room, she collected herself, brushing a few tendrils of hair behind her ears. Her eyes were red and lightly swollen, her cheeks were flushed; it was obvious that she had been crying. What had happened? It was driving me mad. I watched as she made her way down the hall and out of sight. Taking a moment, I collected myself; I couldn't let myself over react. I couldn't jump to conclusions; I had no idea what happened.

I made my way down to the lair, stepping off the boat and onto the land. It was quite obvious to me that I would have to kiss my ballet career goodbye, since I had put everything before it since the day I had gotten to Paris. I peered around looking for Erik, not seeing him anywhere. I walked up the steps and looked onto the floor, singing the De Chagney family ring sitting there. She picked it up and sat it on the side table. Peering into his bedroom, I saw Erik sitting on the end of his bed, head resting in his hands. I slowly made my way into the room, fearing the worst.

"Erik?" I asked quietly. His head whipped up and he looked so relieved to see me, as if he was afraid it was someone else.

"Amelia…" he said, standing up. He rushed to me, taking me in his arms and kissing me. He seemed so needy, so rushed. I kissed him back, holding his face gently in my hands.

"Erik," I said, stopping the kiss. "What on earth is going on?"

"What are you talking about?"

"…why was she down here?" I asked him, still holding his face. His eyes seemed to glaze over a bit.

"what—you saw her?"

"Yes Erik… I saw her." I said, trying to control my emotions. "What is going on?"

"Amelia," he said. "Nothing is happening, I swear to you."

"Why was she down here Erik? Why was she so upset and why are you do flustered? What did she say to you?"

Erik looked down, tears coming from his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. He gently shook his head; I wiped them away with my thumbs and lifted his head to look at him.

"Erik?" I said once again, waiting for a response.

"I came down here and found her, she'd come down before I had. She was rummaging through everything on the table…"

He pulled away and backed up, sitting back on the bed. I sat beside him, one arm around his back, the other holding his hand.

"She said she came down to see me, and I told her she needed to leave and go back to Raoul. She asked me why I begged me not to make her go. Then she began to go on to say how she made a mistake all that time ago, how she couldn't get me out of her head… she told me that she wanted me…"

My heart seemed to lurch inside my chest and my hands went limp. I looked down at my lap for a moment, then took a breath and looked back at him.

"And?"

"She told me that… that she loved me…"

I let go of his hand and looked at him. Part of me wasn't surprised at all, after all that she had said to me earlier, but I still couldn't quite register it. And what was worse was that I couldn't read his reaction to any of it, I couldn't tell how he felt or what he was thinking and it terrified me. He seemed surprised that I had pulled away from him; he seemed scared.

"She told you she loved you?"

He nodded slowly. I didn't say anything for a moment, sitting there in silence. Then, I sat up off of the bed and walked a few feet away from it. I turned to look at him, his face still full of fear.

"I…" I started, not really knowing what to say. "I'm not sure where to go with this."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Well… isn't this what you always wanted?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Christine… you always wanted her to feel that way about you and now she finally admits it. Isn't that what you wanted?... doesn't this change everything?"

"Change everything? Why would it change everything?" He stood up and tried to come toward me. I put a hand up to stop him, backing up against the wall.

"Please Erik…" I said, tears beginning to well up in my eyes. "Please just be honest. I know how you felt about her. Everything that happened a year ago was because of how much you loved her… there's no possible way all of your feelings are gone…"

"Amelia—"

"Erik…" the tears were running down my face. "I'm not going to stop you… I can acknowledge what is going on here, I know how you're feeling right now… I'm going to leave now… and you can go back to what you want… you can finally have what you really want."

"No!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me. I resisted, tears running down my face. He fell to his knees and pulled me close to him, holding me around my waist. I couldn't handle it; I was so confused. I couldn't bare the thought of losing him, I couldn't even think about it… but I just couldn't believe that he would ever give up the chance to be with a woman who he had been so enamored with before.

"Erik…"

"Don't leave!" he begged. "Please… I can't let you just walk away, I won't…" He stood up slowly and met my eyes. He held my face in his hands. "I loved her… I did… there will always be a part of me that will know her as my first real love… but I can live without her. I lived without her since the day I lost her. But you… I can't live without you… I'd die without you. It's more than an inability… I can't live without you and I don't want to. I won't even try…"

He held me there still, wiping the tears from my face and not letting me go. I shook my head, almost in denial. I just couldn't believe he'd choose me over her.

"Amelia… you're the greatest gift god has ever given me… you have no idea how wrong you are… I can't imagine ever taking her back and letting you go…"

"How can you be certain?" I asked him. "Are you sure?"

He looked into my eyes longingly, brushing a tendril of hair behind my ear gently and lifting my chin to better meat his eyes.

"You want to know if I'm sure?" He asked, pausing. Then after a moment, he pulled me in and gave me the most amazing kiss we'd ever shared. It was a gentle and soft, yet passionate and mind numbing. I sunk into him, giving in completely. When the kiss ended, he looked back at me with soft and steaming eyes. "I'm sure…"

*****

I stayed with Erik for the rest of the night. We made love that night; sweetly and softly, holding each other and exploring every last thing about each other. I felt horrible… after doing what I did, putting him in such a compromising position. But he seemed to not care the slightest bit once we were laying in hi bed in each other's arms. I lay on top of him, placing kisses up his chest, up his neck and up to his lips, then looked into his eyes. He smiled at me lightly, bringing one to my lips as well. He kissed me on the forehead and then I laid my head down on his chest.

"Erik?" I asked, softly.

"Yes, my love?" he stroked a hand gently over my hair, stopping at my back and keeping his hand there.

"There's another problem we need to remedy."

"And what is that?" He asked, tilting his head down to look at me. I lifted my head to meet his gaze.

"Raoul…" I said, frowning. "He's been like a ghost these past few days, I just don't know what to do. And if he finds out what's been going on with Christine… I just can't imagine what that would do to him…"

"Christine is not well… she isn't the same person she used to be." He adjusted to sit up and I sat beside him. He put his arm around me and pulled me in close. "It's my fault…"

"No Erik—"

"No, it is. I know, I can admit that. The whole situation has traumatized her and caused irreversible damage. But whoever this person is that she's talking about, whoever she thinks she's in love with, it is not me." He looked at me and did a half-hearted smile. "She loved the Phantom, not Erik. She doesn't realize that. But she's going to do harm to herself, Raoul, everyone involved in the situation if we do not do something."

"So will Raoul… He's still completely disgusted in me for getting involved with you… he just doesn't understand."

Erik sighed and rubbed my arm lightly with his hand, placing a kiss on the top of my head. Then he leaned over to the bedside table and took a small case out of the drawer. It was a small black box; a ring box.

"I wanted to give this to you now since I didn't have it with me when I asked you…" He opened it to reveal a beautiful ring; diamonds and rubies together on a gold ring. It was an antique, I could tell. It was so beautiful. My jaw dropped as he took it out of it's case and slid it onto my finger. "I got this when I was a young boy, in Persia. I traveled a lot as a boy, not really having anywhere to call home… this was one thing I always treasured. I want this to be the symbol of our engagement."

"It's beautiful Erik." I said, smiling and kissing him. "It's absolutely perfect."

"Just like you." He said, kissing me on the forehead.

"No," I said, resting my head against his chest and holding onto him. "Just like you…"


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

_~Christine Daae~_

Christine sat in her room, only the dim light of a flickering candle could be seen throughout. She sat at her mirror again, staring deeply into the eyes of her own reflection. She seemed emotionless, lifeless, like she was somewhere else entirely inside her mind. A single tear rolled down her cheek and fell into her lap; another followed, and yet she seemed not to notice. Raoul entered, yet she made no sign of even realizing it.

"Christine?" he asked… nothing. He walked closer to her. "Christine? Are you alright my love?" he walked closer to her and kneeled down, meeting her level. She turned her head slowly to meet his gaze, once again having no life behind her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" She said, quietly… still seemingly drained. "I didn't hear you come in…"

Raoul looked extremely confused as well as scared. He brushed some hair from her face behind her ear and took one of her hands into his.

"Christine, what on earth is going on with you?" he asked.

"Nothing…" she said. "I'm fine… I'm just… tired…" it was as if she were a ghost; there was nothing to her. Slowly, she got up from the chair and left him, getting into her bed and turning away from him towards the wall. Raoul, still kneeling, just stared at her, confused, appalled, afraid.

*****

_~Raoul De Chagney~_

Raoul made his way down the halls of the dormitories. It was late at night, very late, but he had his mind made up. He left the opera house and found his cabby, asleep at the carriage bench.

"Wake up you fool!" He said harshly, getting into the carriage. The man woke up, startled. "Take me to this address." He handed the driver a small piece of note paper. Reading it, he whipped the horses and they went into a light clopping gallop. He wasn't sure what was going on in his head, but he could hardly think strait ever since he found out what was going on with Amelia.

It made him so angry, he felt so betrayed. How could she do this to him? How could she take the side of such a menace? How could she fall in love with such a monster? He was at least fifteen years older than she, but had the mind of a child; a small, ignorant, evil child. Raoul could never bring himself to admit defeat to this man… he could never allow Amelia to be with him, even if he knew she could never be happy again…

They pulled the carriage up and stopped at a dark alleyway. Raoul got out and placed a fedora on his head, leaning the brim forward shading his face. He told the driver to wait for him, and then he headed down the alley. In through the darkness, he saw a door on the side of the building. He looked to the left, and then to the right, checking the parameter around him, then he knocked on the door three times. After a moment, it opened a crack, revealing a man in his forties, dirty and smoking a pipe.

"Yeah?"

"I'm the Vicompt De Chagney…" Raoul said quietly. "I sent someone earlier to notify you that I was coming tonight…"

The man stared at him for a moment, then nodded, opening the door wider. Raoul entered and shut the door behind him. Following the man down the stair, he was led to a small underground tavern. There were only a few men down there, drinking, smoking and talking loudly. He walked passed them, still following the man. The walked into a back hallway, down and down, then stopped at a door. The man opened it and led Raoul into a room with a fireplace, a liquor cabinet and two armchairs. In one of the chairs, sat a dark figure. The fire did not light his face, but the scotch in his hand could be seen as well as the smoke from his pipe.

"Monsuier…" The man who had led Raoul to the room said. "the Vicompt of the Opera has arrived."

"That will be all, thank you…" The figure said. The filthy man then left Raoul in the room, shutting the door. Raoul walked over and sat in the other armchair. The man in the chair leaned forward into visibility; he was a younger man, around the same age of Raoul, jet black hair slicked back, with an evil look about him. "Raoul De Chagney I presume?"

"Yes," Raoul said. "I was told you were the man that… that would be the best person for me to talk to about my current situation…"

"You need someone taken care of, am I correct?" he asked, taking a drink of his scotch.

"That is correct, yes…" Raoul said, nervously. "I do in fact need your assistance in that particular area."

"Who is the lad?" he asked. "A business partner? An over-bearing actor? Lord knows it can't be too hard a job with your line of work." He took a another sdrink of his scotch.

"The Phantom of the Paris Opera Populair…"

The man looked at Raoul surprised, then took one last gulp of his scotch. He got up and went to refill his glass.

"Ah yes… I heard of his proven innocence in the post last week."

"That is irrelavent…" Raoul said without hesitation. "The man is evil none the less and has no business in my opera house whatsoever, but not one single person in that building can see that but me. They all look at him as if he is some saint that they must all pity and give in to. I refuse to stand by and watch him take away everything that I have worked towards…"

"Spare me the elaborate speech Monsuier." The man said, cutting him off. "When is the next show you are doing?"

"The next show is tomorrow night." Raoul said. "It's the first full show since the opera house reopened. The opera had a banquet three nights ago in celebration of the grand reopening and that is where they introduced that demon into our lives again. The show tomorrow night is now sure to attract twice the amount of audience."

"And surely your new manager then?"

"Surely…"

"Then I shall be there." He took a drink of his scotch and a drag from his pipe. "Where is he planning on sitting?"

"He has reserved his regular seat in box 5 as usual. He will be sitting there with… with my cousin Amelia…"

"Your cousin?"

"Yes, so be sure you do not harm her in anyway. This needs to be quick and clean as possible."

"I know how to do my job, thank you." He replied. "I will be at the show as a guest at 8 O'Clock sharp and will perform the job in the middle of the second act." He paced in front of the fire place, smoking his pipe. "I will send someone in the retrieve your cousin and when she has left him alone, I will be in and out in less than 40 seconds."

"Truly?"

"Truly… the only person in that whole opera house who would ever recognize my face is a Madame Antionette Giry, so as long as I avoid her site and she is kept out of the area, this job will be a guaranteed success."

"How does Madame Giry know your face?" Raoul asked. The man paused, then took a drink of his scotch.

"Well, not my face persay… my brothers… My twin brother to be exact."

"I don't follow you…"

"I don't usually give out my name Monsuir, but for you I think I will make an exception… I am René Cartier, brother of Louis Cartier, the man who confessed to your friend the Phantom's murders. That woman paid a visit to the prison to be sure that my brother was properly spit on… not the most pleasant woman I have encountered… but none the less passionate."

"And you're sure you can avoid her?"

"Just be sure she is kept away from where I will be and I can assure you everything will turn out just as planned…"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Erik!" Meg called out across the lobby. "Could you assist me for a moment?"

Erik and I stood in the lobby, discussing the coming night's plans for the Opera. Meg was across the lobby helping a few other women decorate for the event.

"Couldn't we hire professionals to do this?" Erik asked me. I laughed a little bit.

"We have," I said. "However, Meg always likes to be the one to make sure everything looks beautiful." I kissed him, and pushed him in her direction. "She needs your height, go help."

He walked away in her direction. Meg smiled and began to instruct Erik with exactly what she needed assistance with. Firmin and Andre approached me, seemingly pleasant enough for the stress I'd assumed they were in.

"Ah, Amelia!" Andre said. "Beautiful day, is it not?"

"Yes, it is."

"Quite perfect if I do say so myself." Firmin chimed in. "Tonight will be a night to remember."

"Will you be dancing tonight Amelia my dear?" Andre asked.

"No…" I said, shaking my head. "Due to the… present circumstances, I wasn't able to rehearse as much as I should have. I could have performed, but I didn't feel that I deserved to. After all, the other girls all put in the proper amount of time and I really didn't pull my weight."

"Nonsense!" Firmin said. "I think you've done more than most anyone else here."

"Well thank you," I said, blushing a little. "But it's really fine. Erik and I are looking forward to watching the show together tonight anyway. I really don't mind. I'll prepare for the next show much more professionally."

"Amelia is quite hard on herself…" I heard a voice say behind me. Madame Giry rested a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "She needs to learn to forgive and forget."

"Yes madame." I said, smiling back lightly.

I was hard on myself, she wasn't wrong about that. I was grateful to her for being so understanding of me, for being so warm. She didn't seem like she was that way with anyone else except for Meg… and Christine. I had tried not to think about Christine at all since the incident the day before. It seemed like a waste of energy. I still had my concerns though; I hadn't seen Raoul at all. He seemed to have disappeared into thin air. He was there; I knew he was there. I could feel him watching my every move like a parent on their infant child. I wished he would come to his senses and give up on this silent treatment that he'd put me under. And Christine… I hadn't seen her either. She stayed in her room, all day, everyday, never speaking to anyone. Meg had gone to see her a few times, taking her food and talking to her. Meg said she was sick, seemed to be coming down with a fever, but I didn't believe it for a second. Christine wasn't well, that was certain, but this wasn't a common virus. There was something much deeper going on with Christine.

At that moment, Raoul descended the stairs. Madame Giry kept her hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently and drawing closer to me. Firmin and Andre approached him, attempting to douse him with their excitement for the nights coming events.

"Ah, monsieur De Chagney!" Andre announced, rushing to him. "Is it not a marvelous day?"

"You must be quite eager for tonight's reopening, are you not?" Firmin asked him.

"Yes," Raoul said. "Quite eager." And then, he smiled. A light seemingly forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. Then, he looked passed them at me. "If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I would like to have a moment alone with my cousin…"

Firmin and Andre nodded and walked over to Erik and Meg, instructing them on how to do what. I looked at Raoul, crossing my arms in front of me.

"What do you want to talk to me about Raoul?"

He took me by the forearm and pulled me around the corner so that we could have privacy. He let go of me and looked at me sternly.

"Amelia…" he said. "I think we need to clear the air a bit about this whole situation."

"Clear the air?" I asked him, absolutely floored. "Clear the air?! How could you possibly walk up to me and tell me that when I've been trying to do that very thing for almost a week now!"

"Amelia—"

"No Raoul!" I said, putting a hand up. "We're finished, this whole thing is finished. You made it very clear to me what it is you care most about, and I'm not one of them."

"Not one of them?! The whole reason I've been doing what I've been doing is because of you! I love you with all my heart Amelia!"

"If you loved me Raoul, you'd accept me! You'd accept my decisions and you'd accept my love, whether or not you have a problem with it. You haven't even given it a chance! What went through your mind? Did you think I went out of my way to purposely find a man that you hated? No! I fell in love! And he's tried to make things right with you, he wants nothing more than to put the past in the past, and as much as you say you want to do the same, all you do is live in the past and wallow in your self pity!"

"That self pity you speak of is pity for you… my heart aches for you… you have no idea how much more you're worth. You could have any man you wanted, a great man!"

"Stop saying that!" I shouted, pushing him away at his chest. "Stop talking about him like he's worthless! I could say the same thing to you!"

"…excuse me?"

"Your wife is one of the single most spoiled, self-centered, and ridiculous people I've ever met. She's absolutely mad! And you just let her walk around here, doing whatever she wants, treating everyone around her like they're no better than a rat!"

"You have no right to talk about my wife like this!"

"And you have no right to talk about my _fiancé _like this!"

Raoul paused for a moment and looked at me, his face full of even more disbelief than before.

"…fiancé?" he asked. I nodded at him.

"Yes Raoul, fiancé. We're getting married and there is nothing that you could possibly do to change that."

I then walked away from him, back into the lobby, leaving him there. I didn't want to talk to him anymore and was growing tired of having the conversations with him. They never went anywhere I wanted to go.

Erik was still helping Meg, casually now however. They were talking; he was smiling and seemed to be laughing with her. He finally seemed comfortable with being out among the people, with leading a normal life. Meg was a saint, truly. I had never known someone to be as helpful, as determined, or as persistent as she was. She was going to befriend Erik if it took her all her life, and I loved her for it.

*****

That night, Erik and I lay in my bed together, resting before the night became hectic. He held me close to him, running his hand up and down my back. I sighed deeply, breathing him in and out again.

"What is wrong?" he asked, curiously.

"Nothing at all." I responded, looking up at him, meeting his eyes. "Why would you ask?"

"Because, I saw Raoul take you away today." He said. "What did he say? Ever since then, you've been distant."

"It really was no different than before." I said to him. "We're both equally stubborn, so the conversation didn't go anywhere. All we do is argue anymore."

He leaned up and kissed me gently, then looked at me, holding my chin up and looking into my eyes.

"It will get better…" he said quietly. "I promise you this."

I smiled lightly at him, and leaned forward to give him a kiss. Then I sighed and patted his on the chest, smiling at him and laughing a bit.

"Let's prepare, shall we?"

Erik left me to get ready for the night, and I did the same. Beforehand, I went to find Meg; I needed a feminine opinion on an outfit for the night. I new it had to be more formal than my usual wardrobe. She was nowhere to be found, I looked everywhere; the theatre, the dorms, the lobby, nowhere to be found. Finally, walking back to my room, I saw her come out of another. She came quietly out of Raoul and Christine's room, shutting the door gently, but looking startled when she saw me.

"Amelia!" she said, jumping. "My, you gave me a fright."

"I'm sorry Meg." I said, laughing a bit. "I've been looking for you everywhere… what's going on?"

"Oh…" he said, sighing. "I was talking to Christine, or attempting to as best as possible that is."

"Is everything okay?"

"…no…" she said, frowning. "I don't have any idea what's going on. She' acting so strange, almost lifeless, it's starting to scare me. She just stays in her room and lays in bed. She answers all questions with 'yes' or 'no' or 'I haven't the slightest idea' and doesn't make eye contact. But Amelia…"

"What Meg?"

"… she does do something… one other thing…"

"What?!"

"She stands and stares into the mirror, crying, and… singing…"

"Singing?" I asked, more confused than ever before.

"Amelia… I don't think she's well… I… I think she's trying to win Erik back the way she did before… she's not well at all…"

"I knew it…"

"Amelia, I don't know what to do…"

"There's nothing we can do!" I said. "I've tried, Erik tried, she's completely inconvincible. And… I just can't bring myself to tell Raoul… no matter how angry I am with him… if he knew what she was doing, how she felt… it would just kill him."

"Poor Raoul…"

"Yes…" I said, sadly. "That naïve, ignorant man… Poor Raoul indeed…"

*****

_~Christine Daae~_

Christine laid in her bed, clutching her blankets to her chest, laying on her side facing the wall. She had a couple tears running from her eyes down her cheeks and landing on her blankets. She was singing to herself gently, going between singing and speaking.

"Angel I hear you, speak, I listen… Stay by my side, guide me… Angel, my soul was weak forgive me… forgive me… forgive me my angel…" She begged and begged, then began to sob more. "Oh… god please… I don't want to feel like this anymore… I don't want to hurt like this anymore…"


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

The night was so exciting. Everyone was gathered in the lobby, dressed in their finest attire, waiting to take their seats. Erik and I were peaking into the lobby from the top floor, hesitating to go down. Erik seemed nervous about meeting the people of Paris for the first time. Yes, he'd been introduced to those of us at the opera house, but he still hadn't left the opera house. He hadn't gone out to see the people, he hadn't actually become a part of any social circle.

"Erik… Erik…" I said, nudging him. He turned and looked at me, looking a bit rattled. I smiled at him lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, looking back out. "I'm just… taking it all in…"

"Erik," I said, pulling him away from the corner and back into the hall. I looked up at him, placing a hand on him cheek and smiling. "There's nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine…" gently stroking his cheek, I smiled at him again. He reached up and took my hand on his cheek, kissing it, and then held it at his side.

"I know…" he said. "Thank you."

"I love you." I said smiling, squeezing his hand. He smiled too, releasing a bit of a laugh. He leaned forward and kissed me, then looked back into my eyes.

"I love you too." He said, then he held out his arm to me and smiled. "Shall we?"

I took his arm, smiling excitedly. Then the two of us walked out to the top of the stairs and began to descend down to the lobby. Many people stared… conversations stopping, whispers starting, but not enough to cause deadly silence. I saw Firmin and Andre down at the end of the stairs, they turned and saw us descending and smiled.

"Ah! Erik!" Firmin announced. The two of the met us half way up the stairs. "Amelia, my dear, I hope you don't mind, but we'd like to steal your partner a way for a spell. Just to meet a few of our patrons…"

"Of course." I said, giving him away. "He needs to meet his patrons and his guests." I kissed him, and then parted away from him. I knew he would be fine, I knew that he would get over his fear. I just wished it would happen sooner rather than later. After all, everyone loved him now, not a soul wanted him hurt… except for Raoul…

*****

~Raoul De Chagney~

Raoul waited outside in front of the opera house for Rene to arrive. When he saw him strolling up the stairs, there was no one left in site. They were alone now, the night silent except for the sound of voices coming from inside the building. Rene looked brilliant; like the wealthiest man anyone could ever see. He was sly, that was for sure. He didn't want anyone to be suspicious. But he also knew it would be better if he was not seen at all.

"Good evening…" He said, shaking Raoul's hand. "You have my payment I assume?"

Raoul nodded and handed him a larger satin coin purse. Rene opened it and looked inside, then back at Raoul, smiling.

"Good…" He said, sticking it in the inner pocket of his coat. "Shall we?"

He then walked passed Raoul and out of his site, into the theatre. Raoul stood outside for a moment, taking a breath, the cold air turning his breath into clouds in front of his face. Then, he turned around and entered the theatre, closing the doors behind him.

*****

Erik and I took our seats in Box 5 as usual, preparing for the show to begin. Erik squeezed my hand and smiled at me. I smiled back.

"What?" I asked, curiously.

"Thank you…" He said. I smiled at him and leaned over to kiss him.

"I'm just so glad you're happy…" I said, smiling. "This is your life now Erik."

I kissed him gently and leaned my head upon his shoulder. I was so happy that everything finally seemed to be falling into place…

*****

~Christine De Chagney~

Christine sat in her room, quietly. She wasn't going to the premier… she had no desire. Her mind had been almost completely blank ever since she and Erik had spoken that night. She couldn't believe what he had said to her, how he had acted. He seemed so… angry with her; he seemed like he never wanted to see her again. She knew that couldn't be true… he had to love her still… he couldn't' just release feelings such as those.

She sat at her mirror still, staring at herself in the mirror. She looked down at her vanity and picked up her hairbrush. She began to brush her hair slowly and lightly. Singing to herself, she brought herself into tears. Light tears; tears that seemed to be coming from nowhere, but they were there. She let them fall and continued to sing and brush her hair. When her hair was brought to a soft tame state, she then applied a spray of perfume to her neck. She rouged her cheeks and painted her lips; she looked like she was to be off to some elegant affair when she finished, but she all the while still wore her nightgown. Still staring at herself in the mirror, her tears began to fall more. She sniffed loudly and breathed deeply, keeping herself contained the best she could.

Looking down, she opened the drawer of her vanity. Inside laid two objects. The first was a pair of metal scissors, gleaming when the candlelight hit them. She picked them up in her hands and looked at them a long while, then, reached up, she picked up a lock of her hair at the root, then cut it off with the scissors. She looked at it, lifelessly staring at it and dangling it in front of her face. She then took the extremely long lock of hair and began to wrap it around her gift to him… tying it around a single red rose as if it were a bow… a black bow.

The second object… a handgun… she had found it in Raoul's jacket one night, not even bothering to question what he was doing with it. He didn't seem to miss it, as he hadn't said anything since she took it. She picked it up as well, the long barrel of it inching out of the darkness of the back of the drawer. She stared at it, seemingly emotionless aside from her continued tears. Then, taking a deep breath, she placed the end of it to the temple of her head, still continuing her singing. She stared at her self in the mirror, not flinching at all.

"Angel of music…" she sang. "you… deceived me…" she finished singing, and as she finished… she pulled the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

~Rene Cardie~

It was the middle of the second act and the show was going quite well. The audience response was quite favorable and the whole night seemed to be going quite well. It wouldn't last long however, as the night was about to turn into ruins by one act of heroism.

Rene got up from his seat in the back of the theatre quietly. In an aisle seat, he was able to leave without disturbing anyone or calling attention to himself. He entered the lobby and then made his way up the stairs and into a dark, shadowy hallway, heading to the staircase leading up to the boxes. He stopped in a corner, pulling out his pistol and examining it. He began to load his ammo carefully, then closed it up. He heard footsteps suddenly, then he ducked into the darkness. Looking out, he saw Madame Giry walking down the hallway. She seemed to be a bit stressed, acing back and forth. When she turned away, he snuck out of the corner and up the stairs, thinking he'd gotten by without her seeing him. He was wrong…

Madame Giry turned at the sound of shuffling feet, and saw a shadow skitter up the stairs.

"Hello?" She said, trying to call attention to whoever was making their way up the stairs.

Getting no response, she decided to follow the shadow. She went up the stairs and began to follow the shadowy figure. At first she was just curious, but now she was beginning to worry. She thought maybe she should yell, call out, get the persons attention, but she didn't want to chase the person away. She finally reached the corner of the hallway and peered around it to see the man she thought she'd never have to see again.

"Louis?" she asked herself, utter horror in her eyes. "It… it can't be."

She watched as he stood behind the curtain entering into box 5… Erik's box. He pulled the curtain open a couple inches and peered inside, then nodded to himself. Then, he reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. He then cocked back the back hammer, opened the curtain and little further and pointed it through the curtain steadily.

"Erik…" She said in horror, and without even thinking, she ran towards him. Grabbing his arm and pulling it away, towards her… as the gun fired, the barrel was pressed into her stomach.

Screams were heard from the theatre, gasps and talking. The show had stopped. Rene's face was filled with horror and Madame's eyes bulged, her mouth open in pain. Then, dropping the gun, he pulled his arm from her grasp and ran away.

*****

Erik and I heard the shot from behind us… close behind us. I was so scared I nearly fell from my seat. Immediately, grabbed on to me, looking me up and down.

"Are you okay?!" he asked, exasperated. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" I told him. "Are you?"

He nodded. Then, the two of us looked at each other in fear. He stood up and I did too. He put his hands on my shoulders and sat me down in my seat.

"You wait here, I'll be right back!" He said. I shook my head and tried to get back up, but he held me there. I stopped struggling and he made his way out of the box. That was when I heard his cry of anguish come from the other side of the curtain. Immediately, without any regard for my own safety, I leapt from my chair and ran into the hallway. Erik was down on the floor, holding Madame Giry in his arms. She was bleeding badly, gripping her stomach. He held a palm to her wound, trying to stop the bleeding. He was crying, and talking to her as well, trying to keep her from leaving us.

"Talk to me Antoinette, talk to me. You have to stay with me here, you have to…"

He looked up at me, tears streaming down his face, his breathing so rapid and heavy.

"Amelia, please go get help!" he said to me. I then darted off as fast as I could, down the stairs into the lobby. They were starting to evacuate every one, so there was a whole swarm of people coming out of the theatre. It was then that I saw the police were coming in hurriedly.

"Over here!" I called to them. One of them looked up at me and I waved them up. "Up here! Please! Some one has been shot!"

They raced over to me through the crowd and up the stairs as fast as they could. I led them up to Madame Giry and Erik, who were still in the same position as before. Erik now had his coat off and his sleeve ripped off of his shirt, using it against her stomach wound.

"Men, we need to get this woman to the nearest surgeon!" One of the officers said. "One of you bring the coach around front immediately!"

One of the officers darted down the steps to do the job. The others began to try to take her away from Erik to bring her down the stairs. He was reluctant to give her up.

"Be careful!" He shouted. "She badly hurt!"

"Sir, you need to let us take her—"

"Just let me! Carry her!" he interrupted. "Please… just let me…"

The two looked at each other, then back at Erik. One of them huffed in what seemed like a great deal of irritation, and then nodded.

"Fine, but you need to follow us down with her right now!"

Then they were off, the officers followed by Erik carrying Madame. I followed close behind Erik the best I could, not wanting to get in the way, but also not wanting to lose site. Madame Giry was smiling at Erik, the entire time, gripping his arm and clutching her stomach. We got outside and he brought her to the coach, setting her inside, laying her down. She looked at Erik and smiled, touching his cheek lightly.

"Oh god…" Erik said, tears still coming. "How could I have let this happen?"

"It's not your fault Erik…" She said, faintly. "It's not your fault at all."

"It must be. How did this happen? Who did this? Who were they looking for?!"

"It was just a man…" She said. "Just a very sick and strange looking man, I'd never seen him before… he was just looking for someone to hurt… that's all…"

Erik held her hand a moment more before the officers made them part ways, insisting that they get her to help as soon as possible. Erik back away from the coach and next to me, and we both watched as the coach made it's way quickly down the road and out of our sites. I gripped Erik's hand and squeezed it. He was shaking, I could feel the trembling go all the way through his body, and I knew at that moment that if she wasn't saved, Erik wouldn't stop until the killer was found… and I had no idea was Erik would be capable of if that happened.

*****

We went to the Hospital to see Madame Giry after we changed out of our eveningwear. Erik wanted to go right away, but I made him change and take an aspirin. He was in such a panic I needed to calm him down for the visit. Meg was absolutely distraught, crying and pacing. In the hospital I pulled her aside and tried to calm her.

"Oh Amelia…" She sobbed, gripping her stomach. "I'm so scared…"

"Meg." I said, quietly, trying to sooth her. "Everything will be fine. I promise you, everything will be fine. The doctors are doing everything in there power to make sure your mother stays with us."

"But Amelia—"

"No Meg, you need to keep calm. You need to stay strong for your mother… Now, come."

I hated not being able to cry… I wanted to bad to just hug my friend and cry with her… I felt horrible not being more sensitive… but I knew that I had to be the strong one. Meg was an absolute wreck, Erik was in tatters, the whole night was a disaster, and I had to keep it together.

As the three of us waited outside, there was a deafening silence; waiting to hear from the doctors was the most torture I'd ever experienced. We were there for nearly two hours before finally a doctor came out of the room and approached us.

"Are you here with Madame Giry?" he asked. We nodded anxiously.

"Where is she?" Erik asked. "What is happening?"

"Relax sir, she is going to absolutely fine."

At that point, I let out a breath so harsh I realized that I had stopped breathing all together. Meg started crying out of joy, a smile spread across her face so big. Erik rested his head in his hands, seemingly drained. I hugged him to me and kissed him, then ran my hand up and down his back soothingly.

"Yes, you were right in sending her here as fast as you did. At first it looked like we might lose her, but she's quite the fighter. We've gotten the bullet out, we fixed her up, now she's just resting."

"Can we see her?" Meg asked, without hesitation.

"Of course." The doctor then led the way to the room where she lay. A life had been saved that night, thank god.

*****

~Raoul De Chagney~

Raoul couldn't handle all of the chaos anymore. He couldn't believe the way this night had turned out; his plan had completely failed. How could that man have been so careless? So stupid?! If anyone found out what Raoul had asked that man to do, if Madame Giry died that night, it would all be his fault and everyone would know it.

As he walked out of the lobby and up the stairs, he heard someone burst through the door. It was a young man, he looked in a huff. Firmin and Andre approached the young man, while Raoul stood at the top of the steps and watched.

"What on earth?" Firmin asked him.

"I was sent here from the hospital by the masked man." The boy said. Firmin, Andre and Raoul all held their breath.

"Yes?!" Andre asked.

"I was told to tell you that Madame Giry will live."

Andre and Firmin were exasperated, but so happy. Raoul took a breath and finally allowed the tenseness to run from his body.

"Did you hear that Monsieur?" Firmin asked.

"Yes," Raoul said. "That's wonderful news."

Raoul then walked back up the stairs and left Firmin and Andre to their celebrating. Raoul had a headache like he'd never experienced, throbbing behind his eyes and the top of his head. Reaching the hall of the dormitories, he felt an uneasy sort of silence swarm over him. You could hear a pin drop in the hallway; he wanted nothing more than to drop into his bad and stay there. Opening the door, he saw that the room was totally dark.

"Christine?" He asked, assuming she was asleep.

He picked up a candle sitting on a table next to the door. He pulled a match out of his pocket and lit the candle, then used it to light others around the room. When there was enough light, he looked at the bed; empty.

"Christine?" he asked again, looking confused that she wasn't in bed. He turned around and then saw her… limp, on the floor, beside the vanity.

"Christine!" he gasped, rushing to her side. He rolled her over to face up, and then saw all of the blood. He flung himself back, falling onto his rear, his back pressed against the wall. His breathing was rapid, he started to sweat, his brain entirely shut down. He tried to scream out, but he couldn't. He started to cry, heavily, loudly. He leaned forwardand pulled her to him, holding her in his arms.

"Help!" he cried out, half screech and pained. "Help!!!" He screamed louder than he thought possible, slammed his fist on the wall and kicked the furniture near by, trying to get the attention of anyone near by. "Please! Someone! Help! For the love of god! Anyone!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

~Raoul De Chagney~

Raoul sat on the floor, silent, blood smeared across his clothes, covering his hands, all over. He watched as a group of men carried his wife away, wrapped in a black sheet. He didn't move, didn't say a word, just sat there, staring strait forward into the distance. Firmin and Andre came into the room quietly.

"Monsieur?" Andre asked, gently.

"Raoul?" Firmin said, kneeling down to him.

Raoul said nothing, he didn't react at all.

Firmin looked up at Andre. Andre shook his head in sadness and the two left him there alone.

~Amelia De Chagney~

As we walked up the steps of the Opera Populair, we noticed there was a great deal of panic. Had everyone not heard the news? Madame Giry was going to make a full recovery. I spotted Firmin and Andre at the bottom of the stairs on the inside of the lobby. I rished to them.

"Gentlemen, have you not told everyone of Madame Giry's state?"

"We have Amelia…" Firmin said, quietly. Erik came up next to me.

"What is going on then?" I asked.

Andre and Firmin looked at each other, then back at us. Andre shook his head and walked away in distress.

"I'm so sorry Amelia that I have to tell you both this now, but… it's Miss Daae…"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"She… she is dead…" Erik and I froze. There was no way that I was hearing this correctly.

"…What?"

"Raoul found her upstairs no more than an hour ago… she took her own life with a pistol…" I gasped, my heart stopping. I looked at Erik, his face blank and frozen. Then I looked back at Firmin.

"Where is Raoul?" I asked.

"He's upstairs in their room—" Firmin said, and without letting him finish, I raced up the stairs, leaving Erik and Firmin at the bottom. I reached Raoul's room and stepped inside. He was sitting on the floor, against the wall, blood all over him, blank faced.

"Raoul?" I said, rushing to his side. I kneeled down to his level and looked at him. "Raoul, answer me…"

I took his face in my hands and made him look at me. He finally reacted, looking at me, his breathing becoming harsh. He looked back to the floor, then at his clothes, then back at me.

"Amelia…" he said.

"It's okay Raoul…"

"I couldn't stop her… I wasn't here…"

"It's okay Raoul, it's not your fault…"

Tears began to stream down his face, and he pulled me to him, hugging me tight. I held him there, as he sobbed into my shoulder. His body shook like a leaf, his cries were so heavy.

"I couldn't do anything…" he sobbed. "I couldn't do anything for her… nothing was good enough…"

I held him as close as I could, his cries filling the room. I didn't know how to react; I didn't know what to do. There was nothing I could do, except hold him like that and let him weep. Tears formed in my eyes and ran down my cheeks; how could this have happened. My dear, sweet cousin's wife gone, her blood soaked into his clothes.

After about an hour, Raoul's cries seemed to calm. The two of us sit there in silence as I allowed him to collect himself. His face was so lifeless, so blank, and it killed me knowing I couldn't do anything for him.

"Raoul?" I said gently. "I think we should get you out of this room…" he didn't respond. "I think—"

"Red roses…" Raoul said quietly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Red roses were Christine's favorite flower… there needs to be many at the service…"

I frowned; Raoul shouldn't focus on this right now, he didn't need to start to obsess.

"Raoul, don't worry about that right now…"

"At St. Germain Des Prés… Christine often admired it from afar… she never went in though… it should be somewhere beautiful…"

He was silent for a moment, then he stood up and left the room. I sat there for a moment, not knowing what to think. How all of this could have occurred in one night was beyond me. Deep down, Raoul knew that Christine had been sick; she was confused and effected much deeper than anyone wanted to admit. She had been obsessed. I had so many feelings rushing through me; guilt, sadness, confusion. I was going to have to juggle this night, this horrid night of caring for Madame Giry and fearing for her life, the feeling of fear that they would never catch the man who tried to murder Erik, with the care I was going to have to give Raoul for a completely undetermined amount of time.

The next day, Erik and I awoke extremely eary, considering the night we'd had. It had been impossible to fall asleep, finally we had into the early morning, and it had not lasted more than a few hours. Erik made me some tea and kissed me on the cheek, then sat beside me on the bed in silence.

"Erik?" I asked him. He looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because last night was utter lunacy…" I said. "Everything that happened, we almost lost madame Giry… and we did lose Christine… Raoul lost his wife… and you lost someone to in that, I know you did…"

He sighed and looked down into his lap for a moment, not knowing what to say. When he stared back at me, his eyes were clear; no tears.

"I did lose something, you're right…" he said. "I lost a former love, I lost someone who was once very dear to me… I lost someone who in the past, I would have given my life for… I lost someone who loved me… but it was all in the past… it was all given up and gone. It's a terrible thing, a horrible thing… my heart breaks for your cousin, and I never thought it would… but for once in my life, this tragedy in my life isn't about me, and Christine was a very sick woman. She is finally at peace, and in the end, I believe that this is better for everyone. You're the only one I care about losing. I will take care of you. I will take care of everything…"

I kissed Erik and held him close, tears running down my cheeks. He was right, and I could tell it hurt him to say it. But it was going to be a terrible time, the next week or so, and he was going to stay strong for me… he is such a rarity…

We left the cavern and entered into our regular room, I held Erik's arm tight. I was in no position not to… I would be leaning on him all day. There was no energy left in my body whatsoever. Walking down the stairs, I saw Andre and Firmin were already there in the lobby. It was awfully early for them to already be there… something wasn't right… and nothing else could possibly be going wrong…

"Monsieur Firmin? Andre? What are you doing here so early?"

"It's nearly 8 o'clock." Erik added.

They looked at eachother, then at me. It was at that moment that I knew something was wrong.

"It's the Vicompt…" Andre said.

"Amelia… you're cousin… he is missing…"

I ran through the opera house, shouting Raoul's name, looking in every room. He was nowhere to be found, there was no sign of him. Where could he have gone? Why would he just leave? Erik was following me everywhere I went, flustered and trying to get me to calm down.

"Amelia, please, slow down!" He said. "You need to calm down! Be rational!"

"Erik! This isn't a time for me to slow down!" I exclaimed. "He's not in any position to be alone right now! Wandering, or doing who knows what!"

Erik grabbed me by the arm and stopped me. He held me in front of him and looked me in the eye.

"Amelia, stop and listen to me right this minute." He said. I stopped, and breathed deep, allowing him to speak. "You are not going to be able to do anything productive when you are this flustered. You need to breathe and really think about the first place you would find him…"

I took a moment, thinking hard. I had no idea where he would be… where would he be able to go in such a short period of time… and then it came to me…

Erik and I lept into the carriage in front of the opera house hurriedly.

"Please, to the cemetery! Quickly!" I said.

The carriage began to carry us away fast. I held onto Erik, so tense I could practically feel my blood pulsing through me beneath my skin. It seemed like the ride there was taking hours, even thought it was just mere minutes before we arrived. I jumped from the carriage before it even came to a full stop.

"Wait here!" Erik said to the carriage driver as he lept off after me.

"Take me to the Daae grave site!" I said to Erik. He quickly led me to it, knowing exactly where he was going. When we got there, panting and alert, I ran up the steps of the large stone building where Christine's father had been buried, I found him. He was sitting up on the side of it, on the ground, a large, empty bottle of whiskey in one hand and vomit all over his clothing. Erik and I quickly huddled down to him, gently shaking him.

"Raoul?" I said in a harsh whisper. "Raoul, wake up!" Erik pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and began to wipe away the vomit from his face and jacket. When it was gone, Raoul had still let out no more than a groan, nor had he awaken.

"Come Amelia." He said, picking up Raoul and throwing him over his shoulder. "We'll return to the carriage now, get Raoul to the hospital."

And we did just that. Erik carried Raoul all of the way to the carriage and when we arrived at the hospital, he carried him all of the way inside. Raoul was put into a room and cleaned up, then they force fed him fluids. Erik and I waited outside of his room until his physician came out to talk to us.

"He'll be fine." He said, smiling. "Your cousin is suffering from slight alcohol poisoning, and sleeping outside all night in the cold did not help the matter at all. But he will stay here a while and he will be fine."

"Thank god." I said softly. "Thank you monsuier…"

He smiled at me, nodded and then left. I sighed deeply and allowed Erik to take me in his arms.

"Everything is fine…" Erik said, kissing me on the top of the head. "I told you I would take care of everything."

"Yes you did…" I said, holding him tight. "I Promise I will always believe in you."


	20. FINAL CHAPTER

_Hey, so this will be the last chapter of this fic I haven't updated in quite some time, and the story has run it's course. I love this story, and the characters I've made, but now it's time for me to move on to others. Please read my others if you liked this one though! And Now…. THE END!_

It took quite some time for Raoul to get over Christine's death. He was seeing doctors and others who could help him through the ordeal. I was worried for him; afraid he would never be the same person. But somehow or another, he got through it and started to move on.

The day had finally come, after much anticipation, for Erik and I to marry. It was a warm day, beautiful, the opera house filled with all of the most beautiful flowers and busting at it's sides with guests. I was so nervous, sitting in my room, my dress and veil already on me. I looked in the mirror, still in disbelief of what I was seeing.

The dress was silk and lace; absolutely beautiful. Erik had gotten it for me from Russia. The veil as well. I took a deep breath and smiled, knowing full well I was about to make the best decision I could have ever made for myself.

"Amelia?" I heard a voice ask. I turned to see Meg, standing in the doorway, closing the door behind her. A large smile spread across her face. "Oh my goodness Amelia, you look stunning."

"Thank you." I said, smiling back. "I can practically feel my heart bursting from my chest…"

"All will be fine, Amelia. It will be the perfect wedding."

"Almost perfect…" I said, sighing.

"What's wrong?"

"I just wish Raoul would be here. I always imagined him at my wedding. He's my best friend."

"Whatever happens tonight was what was meant to happen all along Amelia. It's your wedding day. Now, lets get you to the stage… you're future husband awaits."

She escorted me down stairs and through the back doors and back stage. The audience was full, all the guests waiting for the big moment. I looked out and saw the priest, Madame Giry, and Erik. He looked petrified wit nerves.

"Don't worry Erik…" I whispered to myself. "I'm coming to you…"

My father and mother weren't there. Not everyone entirely chose to support my decision to marry Erik, no one understood what it meant to me. It was hard to cope with that fact, but I loved Erik enough to let it go. He was worth it. I took a breath, hearing the march begin to play; this was it.

"See you on the other side." Meg said, smiling, as she and the other girls made their way down the aisle, one by one. Each of the ballerina's of the company opted to be a bridesmaid and it was spectacular looking.

As I prepared to start my walk, I felt a hand take mine. I looked up, and there he was. Raoul stood beside me, dressed in his very best, a stern but comforting look on his face.

"Raoul?" I asked, nearly speechless. "What are—"

"Shhh…" he said, touching a hand to my face and smiling.

"But what are you doing here?"

"You needed someone to walk you down the aisle…" he said. In that moment, I felt the tears start to pour. I threw my arms around him, so appalled at the courage he was showing, totally out of the blue.

"Raoul, thank you so much."

"I'll always love you Amelia… and I'll always be here for you… no matter what happens, you're my best friend, and I am yours. We've always been that way. And I hate myself forever taking that away from you, for even a moment. I'm here for you now and no matter how hard it gets from here on, I will always love you and I will always be here. If Erik makes you this happy, then he must truly be worth the fight."

"He is…" I said, through soft sobs.

"Well then," Raoul said, holding an arm out for me to take. "Let's not keep him waiting."

I smiled ecstatically and took Raoul's arm. The two of us slowly made our way down the aisle that crosses the stage. I could hear gasps, whispers, all sorts of things over the music that was playing, but I didn't care. I looked at Erik, who for a moment, I could tell was worried. But I looked at him and smiled, and he knew then and there that this was right. He smiled lightly back.

"Who gives this woman?" The priest asked, when we stood in front of them.

"I do…" Raoul said. "Raoul De Chagney…"

Then he leaned down, lifted my veil, and kissed me on each cheek. He held my hand tight a moment, smiling and then gave my hand to Erik.

"Take care of her." Raoul asked, gently. "Be the best husband you can possibly be. She's your everything…"

"Yes, she is." Erik said, smiling lightly, taking my hand in his.

Raoul nodded, and with that, walked over to stand next to Madame Giry on Erik's side of the alter. Erik looked so handsome, hair slicked back, suit fine and gorgeous, and no mask on his face. I'd asked him for that one thing, and he'd given it to me.

"Are you ready my love?" he asked me, as we face each other finally. I smiled at him, an lifted my own veil off of my face. I placed a hand on the scarred side of his face gently and comfortingly. Then took both his hands in mine.

"I've been ready since I first saw this face…"


End file.
